Mastercard launches A2A Protect in the UK

Source: Mastercard

Around the world the use of account-to-account (A2A) payments is growing as consumers increasingly seek a range of fast, convenient and efficient ways to pay directly from their bank account. From settling-up with friends, to paying bills and buying goods and services, billions of consumers are now using A2A payments for an expanding range of scenarios. This growth of A2A payments among consumers has also drawn interest from fraudsters, resulting in new scams and fraud attempts, with often unclear rules on what recourse consumers have.

To support banks and deliver the payment protection consumers expect, Mastercard unveils Mastercard A2A Protect, a new global service launching first in the UK. By combining cutting-edge fraud prevention technology and a new clear dispute resolution framework, Mastercard A2A Protect will enable banks to provide consumers with the appropriate levels of protection against fraudsters.

Today, 15 banks representing 90% of UK account-to-account payments protect their customers with Mastercard’s innovative AI powered real-time transaction scoring service Consumer Fraud Risk (CFR). Since its introduction in 2023, CFR has played a key role in reducing the number of APP fraud cases in 2024 by 20%. Monzo, NatWest and Santander are working with Mastercard to build on that foundation to strengthen consumer trust when using Faster Payments.

Mastercard A2A Protect will initially focus on the most acute needs, such as Authorised Push Payment fraud, providing a combination of preventative measures, consumer protections and a process to recover funds. Subsequent phases will establish a process for recovering funds across a broader range of scenarios, including where goods and services have been paid for.

Ultimately, the service intends to support participating bank customers before, during, and after each transaction, by:

Preventing fraud

• Enhancing CFR’s transaction scoring capabilities and helping to identify more high-risk transactions, complementing banks’ own efforts
• Leveraging Trace, a Mastercard solution which harnesses AI and network data insights to prevent money laundering and financial crime, and supports banks to identify and close ‘mule’ accounts
• Delivering an industry-wide standardised fraud and loss reporting mechanism, which will provide banks with richer fraud insights

Protecting consumers

• Providing banks with a simple framework and comprehensive set of multilateral standards to drive best practice and safeguard consumers. Efficiently addressing transactional and fraud protection issues, as well as goods and services protection issues, where relevant for consumers

Recovery of funds

• Introducing a uniform procedure for banks to resolve disputes and recover funds, across multiple use cases via Mastercard’s existing centralised platform, reducing costs and speeding up resolution.

“With Fast A2A comes fast fraud, and we owe it to consumers to have their back. Mastercard A2A Protect delivers meaningful benefits to every participant in a transaction,” said Jorn Lambert, chief product officer at Mastercard.

“It lowers operational costs for financial institutions through standardised real-time fraud insights and streamlined dispute resolution, and all participants benefit from quicker and more predictable outcomes. Most importantly, consumers can feel reassured they have the appropriate protection when making account-to-account payments.”

Why This Matters

In the UK last year, according to UK Finance, £592 million was lost to account-to-account fraud. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has also taken steps to address the concern, introducing a 50:50 liability model for APP fraud. Mastercard A2A Protect adds to that with consistent expectations for consumer protections.

National Payments Vision

Through the National Payments Vision, the UK government is setting out the next phases of modernisation of account-to-account payments in the UK. A2A Protect is part of Mastercard’s approach to ensuring the UK’s Faster Payments ecosystem is ready for the future and provides people choice in how they pay and get paid, while maintaining trust.

As a global solution Mastercard A2A Protect is designed to act as an overlay to existing account-to-account transactions, which means it can be applied to any A2A payment regardless of the payment initiation mechanism.

Partner commentary:

NatWest

“We are driving innovation and working closely with Mastercard to help our customers. This new initiative will help protect customers and merchants.” – Salim Secretary, head of payment schemes, partnerships and commercial, NatWest

Santander

“The alignment of capabilities and security across payment channels is critical to enable choice and protecting consumers. We see this Mastercard initiative as a promising addition to the evolving landscape of A2A payment utility and security.” – Paul Horlock, chief payments officer, Santander

Monzo

“Collaboration and information sharing are essential to fight fraud, which is why we’re working with Mastercard to build a tool that gives banks access to industry-wide data to help them spot suspicious transactions. We’re already using cutting-edge technology to detect and stop criminals in real time and A2A Protect will enhance our work even further, giving us more insights to stay one step ahead of fraudsters and keep our customers safe.” – Andy Sacre, head of payments, Monzo

Further reading: Mastercard unveils A2A payments sandbox in the UK