Mastercard is looking to prevent the potential rise of account-to-account (A2A) payment fraud with its latest product which has launched in the UK.
Mastercard launched Mastercard A2A Protect on July 28, as part of its efforts to enable banks to provide its UK customers with fraud prevention technology and dispute resolution processes to mitigate A2A payment fraud.
The anti-fraud solution will initially focus on preventing Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. Mastercard says it plans to utilise anti-fraud measures and consumer protection data to recover funds.
In a statement, the global card network provider noted there are plans for Mastercard A2A Protect to cover fund processes which extend to a broader range of scenarios in the future, such as where goods and service have been paid for.
“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.”
The surge of A2A
Mastercard noted the parallel between the growing appetite among consumers for quicker, more reliable bank transfer payments, and the attention this has attracted fraudsters to find a new avenue to target consumer payments.
According to UK Finance data, $794m (£592m) was lost to A2A fraud in the UK last year.
The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator implemented new rules around APP fraud inOctober 2024 to combat this threat. The changes resulted in the sender and receiver sharing responsibility 50:50 to reimburse the consumer at a £85,000 cap.
The UK government is also looking to further modernise A2A payments by making it a focal point of the Faster Payments ecosystem under the guidance of the National Payments Vision.
Mastercard says its A2A Protect product aims to complement the future of A2A payments in the UK by acting as an overlay to existing transactions so it can be applied to any A2A payment in the country, regardless of the payment initiation mechanism.
A2A protection set to evolve
Currently, 15 banks in the UK utilise A2A payments. Of these, 90% have adopted Mastercard’s Consumer Fraud Risk solution. This real-time transaction scoring service has reduced the number of APP fraud cases in 2024 by 20%, according to Mastercard.
Monzo, NatWest and Santander – all of which have adopted Mastercard’s consumer fraud risk product – have said they are committed to adopting Mastercard A2A Protect as part of a wider ambition to build on stronger consumer trust objectives as part of the Faster Payments initiative.
“We are driving innovation and working closely with Mastercard to help our customers. This new initiative will help protect customers and merchants,” said Salim Secretary, Head of Payment Schemes, Partnerships and Commercial at NatWest
Mastercard revealed the rollout of Mastercard A2A Protection will be a collaborative effort, with plans to work with bank customers to assist in recovering their funds before, during and after the transaction in question.
“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,” added Andy Sacre, Head of Payments at Monzo.
“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.”
