The Green Sheet Online Edition
May 26, 2025 • 25:05:02
Balancing act: Could A2A wallets finally compete in-store?
In the third quarter of 2024, third-party developers were granted access to NFC technology on iOS in a game-changing decision between the European Union Commission and Apple. This milestone could revolutionize account-to-account (A2A) payment applications, enabling them to deliver a smoother, tap-to-pay functionality that has previously been limited to traditional card-based mobile wallets.
Previously, onboarding A2A within stores had been restricted to QR codes and multiple authentication steps, making the process sluggish and cumbersome. This friction hindered adoption, as A2A lacked the ease of contactless card transactions. Now, with NFC access unlocked on both Apple and Android devices, A2A payments are poised to compete in the in-store payments landscape.
The contactless revolution opportunity
The flexibility that contactless payments offer is one of the major reasons why very few users still carry physical cards: consumers love the ease associated with this payment method. Studies noted by This is MONEY show that up to 93 percent of store card payments are contactless in the UK, demonstrating a real shift in customer behaviors and expectations when it comes to in-store payments.
If all smartphone users, not just those with Android devices, could use contactless A2A payments, the momentum could shift dramatically. Merchants, too, would be more willing to embrace these apps if they knew that the majority of their customers could use them.
Competing with Apple Pay in 2024, Vipps MobilePay launched the world’s first alternative contactless payments on iPhone. Today, Vipps users in Norway can "tap with Vipps" in-store, and the company plans to expand into Sweden, Finland and Denmark in 2025 – reaching another 7.1 million consumers.
Other A2A wallets are following suit, setting the stage for a major shift away from cards as the default in-store payment method. Sweden’s Swish, the country's top A2A app, upgraded its tap-to-pay feature from Bluetooth to NFC for Android users. Spain’s Bizum, used by 55 percent of the population, is launching Bizum Pay in mid-2025, enabling payments via A2A rails or linked cards. Meanwhile, Poland’s Blik, which dominates 45% of the country’s eCommerce market, plans to introduce iOS tap-to-pay in 2025.
As A2A wallets continue to innovate, the payments landscape is poised for a fundamental shift—one that could challenge the dominance of cards in face-to-face transactions.
Moving away from the giants?
Nordic, Spanish and Polish markets are quickly adopting A2A in-store payments, but Europe's biggest economies are lagging. Wero, the pan-European A2A initiative, won't roll out in-store solutions until 2026. In the UK, no A2A wallet has made any progressive consumer traction yet, with only early proofs of concept so far.
The delay could lead to an uneven market, where smaller nations push ahead while larger economies fall behind.
#h2Ready to meet upcoming challenges Ahead of domestic adoption, the real challenge for A2A wallets will be cross-border payments. While Wero’s expansion plans remain uncertain, some interoperability initiatives are already making progress:
- EuroPA: A collaboration between Bizum (Spain), Bancomat Pay (Italy) and MB Way (Portugal) completed its first cross-border transaction in late 2024.
- EMPSA Alliance: Bancomat Pay (Italy), Twint (Switzerland) and Bluecode (Austria) are working on creating a cross-border A2A network.
Nonetheless, there are concerns about the long-term sustainability of these partnerships, with some believing a unified solution like Wero could offer better scalability, innovation and efficiency than a patchwork approach.
Now that NFC access is unlocked, A2A wallets are ready to compete with cards in-store. Whether they challenge the card model or stay a niche option will depend on how they address both consumer and merchant needs. One thing’s clear—2025 will be a crucial year in redefining Europe’s payment scene, and the race for in-store transactions is just starting. 
Nick Saywell, senior manager at PSE Consulting, started his career as a chartered accountant and worked in accountancy in London for 12 years. He has been with PSE for seven years and his focus is on quantitative and qualitative market sizing, data analysis, business case development/modeling and payments market research. PSE is a leading global provider of payment advisory services to players across the payments landscape. PSE’s expertise has enabled it to deliver actionable market insights and operational optimization to senior payments leaders for over 30 years. To learn more, visit https://pseconsulting.com/. To reach Nick, connect via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/nick-saywell-5b0b371.
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