Financial news

Payment services and data enrichment platform Tink has joined the SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme, which aims to transform account-to-account (A2A) payments in the EU.

It has entered the official register to become one of the first participants of the European Payments Council’s newly launched SPAA scheme.

SPAA is designed to unlock the potential of open data access while ensuring that banks are adequately motivated to invest in maintaining their application programming interfaces (APIs) and real-time payments infrastructure.

Tink has been a founding member of the SPAA Multi-stakeholder Group (SPAA MSG) since 2019. After five years of development, the launch of the SPAA Rulebook and Scheme Default Fees in November 2023 marked a significant milestone for account-to-account (A2A) payments in the European Union.

This rulebook establishes a benchmark for an industry-led approach to capitalise on the dual opportunities presented by open banking as well as instant payments.

“Having played a key role in shaping SPAA to this point, it’s brilliant to be among the first participants to join the scheme,” said Andrew Boyajian, Tink’s VP of payments and customer experience. “From the very first industry discussions five years ago to create SPAA, Tink has been convinced that a sustainable and commercial model that benefits all parties was key to realising compelling and competitive A2A payment solutions.

“But this is just the start. We encourage banks and other third-party Providers to join us in SPAA and help bring about a new era in A2A, delivering choice and innovation to European payments.”

According to Tink, SPAA can bring increased choice and payments innovation across the EU, improving existing payment flows, support emerging new use cases, as well as offering improved overall customer experiences that can drive further digital adoption.

It provides a modular framework, enabling users to integrate different services and customise payment solutions, such as dynamic recurring payments and transactions with multiple recipients. This flexibility enhances user experiences as well as lowers expenses for merchants.