A2A payments overview and the challenge of displacing cards
A2A payments are becoming permanent infrastructure — but displacing cards is harder than it looks.
This week, The Paypers published a full industry expert series on account-to-account payments. The verdict from leading payments executives: A2A is no longer a fintech experiment. But replacing cards at scale requires more than cheaper rails.
Here is what some of the industry experts said:
Mark Beresford, Edgar Dunn & Company: ‘A2A usually lacks the familiar consumer protections, instant reassurance, and easy dispute handling that make cards feel safe. A little more friction or uncertainty can wipe out the potential savings.’
Keith Olson, VP ACH & Open Banking at Nuvei: ‘Card payments set a high bar — they combine convenience, protection, and incentives in a single experience. A2A has a strong cost advantage for merchants, but that alone doesn’t change consumer behavior.
My take after years in payment systems:
A2A wins on economics — no interchange, instant settlement, lower fraud surface on the right transaction types. But cards win on trust, habit, and consumer protection.
The smart product strategy is not A2A vs. cards. It is knowing exactly which transactions benefit from A2A and building accordingly:
→ High-value B2B payments ✓
→ Recurring subscriptions ✓
→ Marketplace payouts ✓
→ Consumer checkout at an unfamiliar merchant — cards will hold that ground for years
Important note: A2A doesn’t include chargeback protection by default. If you move volume to A2A rails without investing equally in fraud prevention and payee verification, you are trading interchange costs for fraud losses.
Is your team already running A2A alongside cards — or still evaluating? What transaction types are you starting with? 👇
Source: The Paypers, A2A Payments Series — April 23–24, 2026
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