Open Banking: A2A payments

1) What is A2A through Open Banking and why it matters

• low commission vs cards, lack of classic chargebacks;
• fast Time-to-Funds (often T0/T + 0), high predictability;
• strong SCA authentication at the bank is → lower than fraud on "stolen" payments.

Cons: heterogeneous UX among banks, fragmentation of providers, differences in status/references and returns.

2) Terms and roles

PSU - payer (player).
ASPSP is the payer's bank that gives the API.
PISP - payment initiation provider (Open Banking aggregator).
PIS - API/service for starting A2A translation.
VRP - Variable Recurring Payments: "smart auto payments" with limits (sweeping/merchant-VRP).
CoP - Confirmation of Payee/Name Check.
SCA - Strong Customer Authentication (2FA at the bank).

3) Flow PIS: UX options

1. Redirect: from your cash → to the bank → SCA → back (most common).
2. Embedded: SCA inside the provider widget (limited, depends on the bank/provider).
3. Decoupled: confirmation in the bank's mobile application without redirect (push notification).

Practice: maintain a minimum of redirect + decoupled, predict ETA and clearly show steps.

4) VRP and re-write-offs

VRP (UK): the player once allows "mandar" (cap per-payment/per-period), then replenishment goes without each manual entrance to the bank, but within the limits and SCA policy of the bank.
EU (PSD3/PSR trend): the ecosystem of "PIS subscriptions" is developing, but coverage as in UK-VRP is still less.
Use-cases iGaming: fast repeated deposits, limits "X per day/Y per month," stop parameters in UI.

5) Statuses, Finalizations and Returns

Bank/provider statuses: initiated → pending → accepted/settled or failed/canceled. Be sure to keep bank_payment_id and your 'payment _ id'.
Finalization: like a bank credit transfer - rollback is more difficult than chargeback on cards.
Refunds: Made with a new outgoing payment (A2A refund) or through your regular bank rail (SEPA/FPS). We need a link to your original payment ID and customer account.

6) Validation and error reduction

IBAN/Sort Code/Account Number: format/checksums.
CoP/Name Check (where available): reconciliation of beneficiary name reduces mis-directed payments.
BIC/Bank directory: route selection, details format tips by country.
Purpose/Remittance: Attach a'payment _ id '/invoice to the description to facilitate the reconciliation.

7) Risk and compliance

KYC/KYB in onboarding, AML/sanctions - before enrollment (name/IBAN/country; for legal entities - regdata).
RBA limits: per-tx/per-day/per-month by segment; velocity by device/bank/details.
Fraud signals: new bank + high amount; fast in→out; name mismatch in CoP.
PII and consent: store tokens/consent artifacts (in PII storage, separate from payment logs).

8) Integration architecture (reference)

Layers

Payments Core: invoices, statuses, limits, retray policy.
Open Banking Gateway: your service abstraction over multiple PISPs; routing, idempotency, status conversion.
Banking/PSP Layer: settlement accounts/virtual references for receiving/payments.
Risk & Compliance: sanctions/KYT/AML, RBA solutions.
Accounting & Recon: ledger, statements, mapping'payment _ id ↔ bank_ref'.
Monitoring: degradation alerts, conversion drops, status delays.

Routing

By country/bank/device/amount/player history, the provider/flow (redirect/decoupled) and fallback (for example, SEPA Inst/FPS or card) are →.

9) Orchestration, feilover and idempotence

Key ID: 'payment _ id '/' invoice _ id'.
Retry policy: backoff + jitter; clear line on waiting time for bank status.
Feilover: provider/bank is not available → offer alternatives (SEPA Inst/FPS/card); for VIP - manually hold the cart until the status arrives.
Signed webhooks from the provider; signature and time verification.

10) Reconciliation and Accounting

Unique identifiers: 'payment_id ↔ provider_payment_id ↔ bank_end2end/Remittance'.
T + 0/T + 1 reconciliation with bank statements/provider feeds.
Unmapped lines → investigation queue; SLA to close the hangmen.
Chargebacks: new payment with reference to the original; journal of causes.

11) UX patterns affecting conversion

Auto-select method: if the payer bank is supported and has a high success-rate, show A2A first.

Transparent ETA and SCA steps before clicking: "Your bank's application will open, confirm - it will return in 10-30 seconds."

Picker bank with search/logos, "save bank for repeat."

Mistakes in plain language: bank unavailable/technical pause - offer an alternative.
VRP options: "Quick re-deposits without re-entering the bank" with limits/controls in the office.

12) Economy and SLA

Cost: provider commission + operating costs (support, investigations). Usually below maps and comparable/below SEPA Inst/FPS.
SLA: successful PIS - seconds/minutes; VRP - almost instantaneously within limits; clear ETA communication in UI.
KPI "Cost per Approved": we consider all-in taking into account fallback, opera time and returns.

13) Metrics and dashboards

Approval Rate A2A, drop-off in steps (pick-up bank → SCA → return from the bank).
Time-to-Funds p50/p95, VRP share and its contribution to AR.
Fallback rate and reasons (bank unavailable, SCA error).
CoP mismatch rate, unmatched recon%, share of manual cases.
Cost per Approved (by provider/country/bank), uptime providers.

14) Anti-patterns

Rigid dependence on one PISP/one bank (SPOF).
No CoR/validation of → mis-directed payments details.
Opaque statuses/ETA → tickets and cancellations.
No idempotency and signed webhooks → doubles/out of sync.
PII storage along with payment logs without RBAC/encryption.
Ignore VRP where available (loss of LTV/ARPU by friction).

15) Implementation checklist (short)

• Connect 2 + PISP to key countries (UK/EU), configure routing.
• Implement Redirect + Decoupled flow; predictive ETA and real-time statuses.
• Include CoP/Name Check, IBAN/Sort/Account validations; remittance with 'payment _ id'.
• Configure VRP (where available) - Limits, Dashboard, Notifications.
• RBA limits/velocity, sanctions/AML, KYT at enrollment; PII-vault and tokenization.
• Idempotency, signed webhooks, backoff + jitter, fallback on SEPA Inst/FPS/card.
• Lager and T + 0/T + 1 reconsilation, unmatched queue, failure causes.
• Дашборды: AR, drop-off, Time-to-Funds, fallback, CoP mismatch, cost-per-approved.
• Support scripts: frequent bank/SCA errors, alternatives, return dates.
• Regular A/B calibration of method order and picker bank.

16) Summary

Open Banking-A2A is a strong basic method for iGaming: cheap, fast and compliance-friendly. Success depends on multi-provider orchestration, competent UX (SCA/picker bank/VRP), strict idempotence and reconstitution, and CoP and RBA controls. Build these layers and get high deposit conversion with minimal costs and predictable enrollment times.