Account-to-account payments explained: updates, challenges, regional trends

Raluca Constantinescu, Domain Lead Editor at The Paypers, analyses the account-to-account (A2A) payments space, focusing on global developments, key challenges, regional trends, and regulatory updates.

Drivers, friction points, and regulatory updates 

Fuelled by technological innovation, regulatory updates, and a growing demand for faster and cost-effective alternatives to card payments, account-to-account (A2A) payments have gained significant momentum over the past several years, taking centre stage in many discussions and developments in the fintech industry. The value of global transactions via A2A payments is projected to rise from USD 1.7 trillion in 2024 to USD 5.7 trillion by 2029, showing a 230% increase.

Looking at the flourishing of A2A initiatives and real-time payment (RTP) systems across the globe and coupling this with the successful innovation of products leveraging these infrastructures, such as Open Banking, we can see that global circumstances are favourable for enabling new A2A use cases at scale. In this context, A2A payments are expected to be increasingly utilised for high-value transactions, as consumer trust builds up. This consolidated trust is anticipated to further support A2A payments’ transition from peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions to retail payments, challenging traditional payment methods and established card schemes – which currently dominate the market. Speed, reduced costs, and shifting merchant preferences also contribute to this trend.

Yet, global adoption faces several persistent challenges. Real-time A2A payments are typically irrevocable, meaning that once the funds are transferred, the transaction cannot be reversed by the payer. This provides certainty and immediate settlement for merchants, making this payment option highly attractive from a cash flow and risk perspective. However, this same feature can pose a risk to consumers in the event of merchant fraud, as there is limited recourse to recover funds once the payment has been made. In countries where consumers are used to the protection that credit cards offer, adding similar safeguards to A2A payments could help boost consumer trust and adoption.

With consumers expecting payment journeys that are both intuitive and efficient, user experience (UX) remains a critical barrier, particularly in regions where Open Banking-enabled A2A payments are still evolving. In Europe, for example, not all banks have invested equally in a flawless UX, resulting in fragmented and sometimes frustrating user flows. Consumers usually favour experiences similar to those provided by more familiar payment methods, and when UX falls short, this tends to impact adoption rates. This, in turn, contributes to limited merchant uptake in certain markets. Inconsistent API reliability across financial institutions (FIs) and regions further compounds the issue, leading to fragmentation – another factor which slows progress, as many solutions still lack cross-border interoperability.

In 2025, regulation plays a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of A2A payments. While varying compliance standards further complicate A2A payments integration in some regions, the good news is that, at least at European level, regulation is starting to catch up. The implementation of the European Union’s Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) is underway, with full adoption expected by the end of 2025. By 9 January 2025, payment service providers (PSPs) operating in the euro area had to be able to receive instant credit transfers in euro, and by 9 October 2025, PSPs must also be able to send and receive instant SEPA credit transfers, offer a verification service (free of charge) to confirm that the payee’s name matches the provided IBAN, and ensure that instant SEPA credit transfers are not offered at higher costs than regular credit transfers.

Globally, consumers and industry players alike are pushing for a future where fast, direct, and safe transactions are the new standard, and regulators are actively promoting the use of standardised APIs to enhance the scalability, interoperability, and security of A2A payments. These efforts are part of broader initiatives like Open Banking and Open Finance, which aim to foster competition, encourage innovation, and expand financial inclusion.

Global snapshot – A2A payments by region

Europe

Are developments in the A2A payments space hinting towards fragmentation – or rather collaboration? For Europe, surely collaboration is this year’s keyword. Even though previous efforts to launch a successful pan-European payment system have been unsuccessful, it seems that things are about to change with the rollout of initiatives such as the European Payments Initiative (EPI) and the European Payments Alliance (EuroPA).

Launched in 2020, EPI is supported by 16 European banks and PSPs joining forces to offer a unified mobile payment service based on instant A2A payments to all European companies and citizens: Wero. In 2025, the region saw the launch of another instant payment service, EuroPA, aiming to contribute to a sovereign pan-European payments market through interoperability among existing payment solutions. EuroPA leverages SEPA instant payment standards and mobile payments in various European countries, and interoperability among users of Bancomat, Bizum, and MB WAY/SIBS – the three founding solutions – is effective since March 2025. Recently, Blik, IRIS, and Vipps MobilePay have joined the initiative.

As of June 2025, EuroPA and EPI announced a strategic collaboration that seeks to address Europe’s sovereignty challenge in payments, especially in terms of cross-border transactions. This partnership aims to cover all use cases – P2P and commercial payments, both online and in-store – across the markets of the participating solutions. Driven by a common goal of streamlining interconnectivity, the collaboration between EPI and EuroPA is a good example of how two complementary approaches to challenging the dominance of card networks have joined forces to serve the broader interests of consumers.

North America

Across North America, real-time payments adoption is starting to grow. In the US, FedNow is the instant payment rail launched by the Federal Reserve in 2023. According to recently published Q2 2025 data, FedNow volume and value have seen robust growth since its launch, with more than 1,400 financial institutions joining the service. Quarterly volume grew 62% to 2.1 million payments, while the average daily value of FedNow transactions surged more than 400% to USD 2.7 billion. The FedNow Service recently increased its transaction limit to USD 1 million (from USD 500,000) and launched new risk mitigation features.

Canada has plans to launch a real-time payments system as well. The Real-Time Rail (RTR), developed by Payments Canada together with their delivery partners, will allow Canadians to send and receive irrevocable payments in real time – which will also clear and settle between FIs in real time, 24/7, 365 days a year. Currently, Payments Canada is nearing the completion of the RTR technical build, and a testing phase will follow throughout 2025 and 2026.

LATAM

In LATAM, digital wallets and A2A systems are responsible for 46% of the region’s ecommerce turnover, according to PCMI. Regional A2A payment methods follow a growth trajectory, but this trend is accompanied by rising fraud levels.

Brazil’s Pix recorded 64 billion transactions in 2024, surpassing the combined total for credit and debit card transactions in the market by 80%. However, this shift does come with risk. Worldwide, APP fraud losses are on the rise, expected to climb to USD 7.6 billion by 2028 across six leading real-time payment markets (India, Brazil, Australia, the UK, the US, and the UAE). As the second-largest RTP market globally, according to research published by ACI Worldwide, Brazil is projected to experience the highest growth in APP fraud losses compared to other markets included in the same study. So, it’s no surprise that many measures are already being implemented to reduce fraud. For instance, the Central Bank of Brazil has imposed limits for Pix transactions made from unrecognised devices. Additionally, starting in 2025, when a new alias (which can be a phone number, an email address, the taxpayer identification number, or a random key) is created, it must be matched to a specific user, and FIs need to authenticate and validate that the alias belongs to the individual registering it.

In 2022, the Central Bank of Colombia started its own instant payments project: Bre-B. In H2 2025, Bre-B has entered its soft launch phase, with key registration starting on 14 July and full operations set to begin in mid-September 2025. On its first day, almost 3 million keys were registered, according to EBANX.

Other examples of A2A payment initiatives in LATAM include MODO in Argentina, Yape and PLIN in Peru, and SPEI in Mexico.

APAC

In APAC, the A2A infrastructure is rapidly advancing, mainly backed by supportive governmental policies and technological innovation. While some markets have more mature real-time and A2A systems that have been in place for years, others are still in the early stages. Adoption is accelerating, however, with strong growth predicted for Indonesia (CAGR of 81.9% between 2022 and 2027), Malaysia (19.7%), the Philippines (18.7%), Singapore (18.3%), and Australia (16.3%).

Looking at country-specific developments, it is worth mentioning that India continues to dominate the global instant payments space. Launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016, UPI quickly became the preferred payment solution in the market, processing over 18 billion transactions per month in 2025 and accounting for 85% of all digital transactions in India. What started as a plan to support financial inclusion in the country turned into an international success: today, UPI is also present in Singapore, the UAE, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Mauritius, and France.

In Australia, there are two A2A systems: the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) and New Payments Platform (NPP). The first, launched in 1989, will be decommissioned by 2030. The latter facilitates payments 24/7, with funds transferred almost in real time. According to a consultation paper published in 2025, more than 115 banks, fintechs, and FIs use the NPP system to move money between bank accounts using Osko, PayID, and PayTo. Since the NPP was launched in 2018, A2A transfers have been migrating to this real-time payment system, with the platform currently processing more than one-third of the A2A payments in the country.

Overall, with governments enabling seamless connectivity, fintechs deploying next-gen tech, and local schemes moving closer towards regional interoperability, APAC is seen as the world’s most dynamic region for RTP innovation, holding a lot of potential for further A2A-related developments.

MEA

Across the MEA region, the rise of real-time and A2A payments is driven by consumer demand and regulatory mandates.

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia leads in terms of RTP transaction volume, followed closely by Bahrain, which is projected to become the global leader in consumer adoption, with an estimated 84 RTP transactions per capita per month by 2027, according to ACI Worldwide data. Governments and regulators in the region, including the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait, are laying the foundation for domestic RTP schemes, prioritising interoperability and the launch of new overlay services.

In Africa, Nigeria stands out as one of the top 10 RTP markets globally, while South Africa, having launched its own RTP system in March 2023, ranks second on the continent, according to ACI Worldwide data. With multiple African markets preparing to roll out their own RTP frameworks in the future, MEA shows significant untapped potential in the real-time and A2A payments space.

 

As A2A payments become increasingly relevant in the global financial landscape, it is vital to understand how regulation, technology, customer needs, and other key developments drive transformation. This editorial piece, written in July 2025, was initially published in The Paypers' Account-to-Account Payments Report 2025. For a comprehensive view of the A2A payments space and insights into global trends, key players, partnerships, and the next phase of the A2A evolution, we invite you to access the full report HERE.

 

About the author

Raluca Constantinescu, Domain Lead Editor at The Paypers, has an extensive background in content marketing, client relationship management, publishing, and project management. She researches and analyses the latest trends in payments and ecommerce, with a particular focus on merchants, marketplaces and online platforms, cross-border payments, and payment methods. Her work spans the full editorial spectrum, from shaping content strategies for flagship reports to representing The Paypers at major industry events across Europe. Passionate about the impact of technology and innovation on commerce, Raluca is always examining the future of payments. She can be reached at raluca@thepaypers.com or via LinkedIn.