What is Open Banking and Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments?

What is Open Banking exactly?

For 50 years, credit card networks have held a monopoly on moving money online. If a customer wanted to pay you, they had to drag their 16-digit card number across the internet, paying a "toll" to Visa or Mastercard along the way.

Open Banking (PSD2) changed the rules.
By law, European banks must now allow third-party payment providers (like RoxPay) to securely talk directly to a customer's bank account. This birthed the "Pay by Bank" or A2A checkout button.

How an A2A Checkout Actually Works

It's beautifully simple. Let's say a customer buys a €800 bespoke suit on your Shopify store.

1. At checkout, instead of typing a card number, they click "Pay with Bank Account".
2. They are securely redirected to their own banking app (e.g., Revolut, Monzo, Intesa) via fingerprint or FaceID.
3. A pre-filled wire transfer appears on their screen: "Send €800 to [Your Store]".
4. They tap 'Confirm'. Money moves instantly from their account straight to yours.

No plastic cards. No messy typing. No expiration dates.

Why Merchants Love A2A (The Big Three)

Why are giants like Amazon pushing desperately for Pay-by-Bank methods?

Near-Zero Fees: Because you bypass the card networks entirely, there is no Interchange Fee and no Scheme Fee to pay. A €1,000 order that would have cost you €20 in credit card fees now costs you a flat 15 cents.
Impossible to Chargeback: There is no "Friendly Fraud" in Open Banking. The customer rigorously authenticated the transfer inside their own bank app. They cannot call their bank later and say "It wasn't me!"
Instant Cash Flow: Standard card networks hold your money for 2 to 7 days. A2A payments hit your corporate bank account in literal seconds via the SEPA Instant routing network.

Is A2A the death of Visa and Mastercard?

Not immediately. Consumers still love credit cards for the air miles, cashback points, and ability to "buy now, pay later" using bank credit.

However, A2A is violently taking over the B2B sector, high-ticket retail (luxury goods, furniture, electronics), and government tax payments, where merchants flat-out refuse to swallow a 2% fee on a €5,000 sofa.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to build an integration with 5,000 different European banks?

No. You integrate a single "Payment Initiation Service" API from a gateway like RoxPay. Our engine handles the routing and UI connections for every single bank in Europe automatically under a single checkout button.

Is it safe for the consumer?

It is the safest payment method in existence. The customer never types their bank password into your website. The entire authentication happens inside the biometric sandbox of their own banking app.

Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments: The End of Credit Cards?