Global A2A Retail Payment Systems: Lessons for the U.S.

The recent launch of FedNow—the Federal Reserve Bank’s instant payment service—seems certain to be a game-changer in payments. The ability of financial institutions to offer their customers 24/7/365 access to transactions that are initiated, cleared, and settled in seconds will spur the development of new payment methods, deliver new use cases for older methods, and change consumer expectations and behaviors.

One of those older methods—account-to-account (A2A) transfers—might be made new again in a world of ubiquitous instant payments. A2A payments, traditionally the province of sellers and suppliers, could see a renaissance in merchant sales now that the power to engage them is being pushed out to a wider array of payers and payees. This Javelin Strategy & Research report looks at A2A payments through the lens of successful initiatives in India and Brazil, detailing how their breakthroughs could be mimicked in the United States—and how various stumbling blocks could hinder such efforts.

Key questions discussed in this report:

• What do account-to-account payments look like in transactions between merchants and consumers?
• How have India and Brazil realized growth in the adoption and volume of A2A merchant payments?
• What are the barriers to the widespread adoption of A2A merchant payments in the United States?

Companies Mentioned:

Central Bank of Brazil, Curve, Fiserv, National Payments Corporation of India, Pix, Reserve Bank of India, The Clearing House, U.S. Federal Reserve, Unified Payments Interface