Card giant Visa is set to enter the UK’s growing account-to-account market with its new pay-by-bank offering, Visa A2A. This initiative aims to provide consumers in the UK with enhanced choice, control, and protection when making payments through bank transfers.
Visa A2A allows users to manage bills and subscriptions conveniently via their bank app, while also offering a level of protection akin to that associated with card payments. For businesses, the service leverages real-time settlement through Pay.UK’s Faster Payment System, granting better visibility over payments and facilitating cash flow management.
Additionally, businesses can receive notifications if a consumer alters or cancels payment permissions and can incorporate more transaction data for smoother reconciliation processes.
With its technology platform positioned to handle bills and subscriptions, Visa aims to gradually roll out Visa A2A for ecommerce payments in the UK. The company is also pursuing an open model that invites banks and industry partners to enhance open banking-enabled payments for businesses.
Mandy Lamb, MD of Visa UK and Ireland, describes Visa A2A as a transformative solution, noting that it provides UK consumers and businesses using pay-by-bank with a level of protection similar to card payments. Isabel Pitt, deputy director of payments at Nationwide, highlights the rapid growth of A2A payments among UK businesses and consumers, emphasizing the importance of a robust framework for these innovations to thrive. She expresses enthusiasm for collaborating with Visa and industry partners to bring Visa A2A to the UK market.