NAB taps Banked to Expand Account-to-Account Payments

National Australia Bank (NAB) has partnered with UK-based fintech firm Banked to promote the adoption of account-to-account (A2A) payment solutions among Australian merchants. This collaboration aims to leverage Banked’s Pay by Bank technology, a direct debit system that allows consumers to make online transactions directly from their bank accounts.

The partnership will utilise the PayTo services provided by Australian Payments Plus, a Sydney-based tech firm, allowing merchants to send PayTo agreements to customers for initiating payments and refunds. This system addresses various checkout scenarios, including online payments, scheduled recurring payments, and split payment amounts.

NAB plans to roll out the A2A payments feature to a select group of its business clients in the first half of 2024. Shane Conway, executive general manager of transaction banking and enterprise solutions at NAB, said A2A payments offer “compelling benefits for certain use cases,” with economic advantages for merchants in the form of lower operating costs, unique loyalty schemes, and reduced fraud risk.

The partnership with Banked is part of NAB’s broader effort to introduce innovative solutions to its clients. In October of last year, NAB launched Liquidity+, an AI-powered corporate cash management, analytics, and forecasting platform developed with Trovata.

Internally, NAB has been led by group CEO Andrew Irvine following the retirement of former CEO Ross McEwan in April. The bank’s emphasis on technology and innovation reflects its commitment to staying at the forefront of the rapidly evolving financial services landscape.