Account to Account, Cards and Customer Choice: Where NatWest Sees A2A Going

Quick Summary

Where does account-to-account go next? Simon Eacott, Head of Payments at NatWest Group, says it is not a battle between A2A and cards but a question of customer choice for consumers and merchants. Open banking has been a game-changer, and NatWest's own A2A business, Payit, is taking off. For A2A to become the norm, it needs use cases, an end-to-end experience to match cards and a business model that works for everyone.

Is account-to-account a threat to cards?

Eacott does not see it as a battle. Card schemes are evolving all the time and remain a key part of the future of payments. It is about customer choice, for both merchants and customers. It is not necessarily about replacing cards, though he notes that the physical card is becoming less relevant as payments become more virtual.

He also stresses that cash will be around for a long time, and that NatWest wants to offer every customer a payment method that is relevant to them.

What is driving account-to-account growth?

Open banking has been a real game-changer in the account-to-account space, Eacott says. NatWest has built its own A2A payment business, Payit, which is taking off with a number of merchants.

Growth, though, will depend on customer demand and the services layered on top. It will come from use cases, not the technology behind them.

What would it take for A2A to become the norm?

Card rails have had decades of growth, evolution and innovation, including consumer protection and chargebacks. For A2A to become a viable alternative or complement, Eacott says it needs:

• A similar end-to-end user experience
• Something that works well for merchants and consumers
• A business model that works for everybody in the chain

FF NEWS TAKE:

Eacott refuses the usual cards versus A2A framing, and he is right to. The gap is not speed or cost, it is decades of consumer protection that shoppers take for granted on cards. Payit gives NatWest a live view of what merchants actually adopt, and his answer is use cases first. A2A becomes the norm when it is the obvious choice in a specific moment, not when the rails are ready.