Open Banking, Instant Payments, Account-to-Account

Dateline: New York, 17th July 2024.I always look forward to reading the Payments Innovation Jury report because it is based on a survey of practitioners around the world (including, as it happens, me) and tends to give a more practical and realistic view of the strategic horizon than that put forward by suppliers. I couldn’t help but notice that a big focus of this year’s report and subsequent discussions was account-to-account (A2A) payments. These are payments that shift money from the payer’s bank account to the payee’s bank account through the instant payment networks that are springing up around the world.ShareNorth and SouthThe Jury’s verdict on the medium-term future of payments was presented and discussed at the excellent European Card Payment Association event in Lisbon earlier this year. I was invited to present about the use of AI in retail financial services, and greatly enjoyed presentations and panels featuring practitioners from many different countries.The report (which is sponsored by the World Bank, HPS, Interswitch and FIME) notes that back in 2022, almost half of the jury members said that within five years they would see A2A networks and mobile money compete sustainably with “traditional” card networks for domestic payments, although a third thought that cards would continue to dominate their home market. Only two years later, the picture has evolved faster than many expected. When asked to identify the fastest growing retail payment methods in their home market, more than two-third nominated either account-to-account or mobile money when asked to look another…Open Banking, Instant Payments, Account-to-Account