# Account-to-Account
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-gateway/documentation/payment-methods/alt-pay-methods/a2a/index.md

Account-to-Account (A2A) is an alternative payment method available through the Mastercard Gateway that transfers funds directly between bank accounts. It supports Open Banking payment initiation, bank account-based payment acceptance, and real-time payment processing. Customers authorize payments through participating financial institutions, while merchants use the Mastercard Gateway transaction model to manage payment processing and payment lifecycle events.
Use A2A to support direct bank account payments alongside card payments and other alternative payment methods.

## Recommended paths {#recommended-paths}

Select the path that matches your role and integration requirements.

|                                 If you are a...                                  |                        Then focus on...                        |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Acquirer**, a bank or acquiring institution that enables merchants             | Configuring Account-to-Account across your merchant portfolio. |
| **Payment service provider**, a PSP, aggregator, or payment facilitator          | Integrating Account-to-Account across multiple merchants.      |
| **Enterprise merchant**, a large merchant integrating directly with Gateway APIs | Using Account-to-Account in your checkout experience.          |
| **Software vendor**, an ISV embedding payment flows into platforms               | Embedding Account-to-Account in your platform.                 |

## Learn more {#learn-more}

Explore these topics for additional information:

* [Integration models and payment workflows](https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-gateway/documentation/build/index.md)
* [Supported payment methods](https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-gateway/documentation/payment-methods/index.md)
* [API reference](https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-gateway/documentation/api-reference/index.md)

## Versions {#versions}

These versions apply to Account-to-Account.

|             If you need...              |                                                                                        Then...                                                                                         |
|-----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **To integrate to an API**              | Use Version 100 of the Mastercard Gateway API for all new integrations. A2A supports Direct Payment, Hosted Checkout, Hosted Session, Hosted Batch, and Browser Payments integrations. |
| **Support for an existing integration** | Refer to each Account-to-Account (A2A) payment method documentation for minimum supported API versions.                                                                                |

## FAQs {#faqs}

Account-to-Account (A2A) supports bank account-based payment acceptance through supported banking and real-time payment schemes. Account-to-Account (A2A) can be integrated using supported Mastercard Gateway integration models, including Hosted Checkout and Direct API integrations. Account-to-Account (A2A) enables direct bank account payment acceptance and supports Open Banking and real-time payment use cases. It is an important payment model for digital and commercial payments. You can retrieve Account-to-Account (A2A) payment details by querying the associated order or transaction resource through the Mastercard Gateway API.