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Worldpay, a unit of processor FIS Inc., has partnered with open-banking gateway and real-time payments network Volt to enable merchants to accept account-to-account payments from consumers.
Through the use of application programming interfaces Volt will enable Worldpay merchants to initiate account-to-account (A2A) payments using open-banking technology. Open banking allows banks and fintechs to share financial data and services with third parties.
Adoption of open banking is driving consumers’ use of A2A payments. These payments rose 13% in 2022 to $525 billion, compared to $463 billion in 2021, according to Worldpay’s 2023 Global Payments Report. By 2026, A2A payments, which are common for business-to-business transactions—but, up to now, not so much for consumer-to-business transactions—will account for a 10% share of e-commerce payments volume, or $757 billion in global online payments, the report says.
Another key driver of the adoption of A2A payments between consumers and merchants is the increasing ubiquity of real-time payments networks that support A2A payments, such as Volt. Some 70% of real-time networks support A2A payments, according to the Worldpay report.
When transacted over real-time payment rails, A2A payments cost merchants less to accept than credit and debit cards, as merchants pay no interchange fee on the transaction, while offering near-instant settlement of funds, which improves merchants’ cash flow, according to the report.
As interoperability between real-time payment rails rises, more opportunities to use A2A payments for cross-border commerce will emerge, further benefiting merchants with global ambitions, Worldpay says.
“Our strategic collaboration with Volt comes at an exciting time, as open-banking adoption gathers pace, revolutionizing payments across the globe,” Sudev Balakrishnan, chief product officer for Worldpay says in a statement. “Volt [is] a best-in-class technology provider with deep expertise in this space. Working together, combining their knowledge with our scale, we will be able to open up pay-by-bank opportunities for our merchants and potentially allow them to take advantage of this growing market by embracing A2A payments with a single solution.”
