# Pay by Account
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/solutions/pay-by-account/index.md
### Overview
Pay by Account Program helps Account Holding Institutions (AHIs) (for example, banks, credit unions, and digital players) accelerate the digital transformation of everyday payments by offering consumers additional payment choices using a new, robust, and secure retail payment solution.
It is designed to allow merchants to be paid in near real time through a faster payments network managed by a Designated Settlement System, and also functions as a traditional debit Mastercard transaction to be used in Mastercard's global acceptance network. Pay by Account enables consumers to use a digital account-based payment solution through an AHI's online and mobile platforms to process secure retail transactions through tokenization and dynamic cryptography. The solution allows consumers to select an eligible Consumer Account (for example, consumer deposit, prepaid, electronic money, and stored value accounts) with their AHI to make a payment to a merchant across a range of use cases including online, in-app, in-store purchases, and Automated Fuel Dispenser (AFD).
81%
of surveyed consumers indicated they will definitely or probably try Pay by Account Schlesinger Global Qualitative, 2018, Quantitative Surveys in Brazil, Germany, and India: Account-Based Digital Payments Global Report 65%
of consumers trust banks more than any other institution as a financial partner Oracle Financial Services, 2018, Global Retail Banking Survey 2021 71%
of consumers agree that making the checkout experience easier and simpler would make them more likely to complete a purchase Ovum, Strategies for Optimizing Online Commerce, 2018
### Benefits
Pay by Account enables your customers to use their existing mobile banking app to make purchases, underpinned by the trust and security of their bank as well as Mastercard's brand promise.
###### Convenience and control
Provides consumers the choice to pay for purchases using any eligible Consumer Account that has available funds
###### Improved sales and profitability
Increases sales from ease of checkout and lower declines, fraud, and chargebacks
###### Safety and security
Consumer authenticates with their bank at enrollment and with each transaction, reducing fraud and chargebacks with tokenization and consumer authentication
###### Regulatory compliance
Migrates cash access to electronic payments and complies with certain regulatory requirements
### How it works
Pay by Account allows consumers to use their financial account and generate a 16-digit surrogate token number which could be used in any kind of purchases.
###### Step 1
###### Consumer
Payment is initiated at a POS terminal or online merchant
###### Step 2
###### Acquirer
Authorization is initiated using a token number that routes to Mastercard
###### Step 3
###### Mastercard Network
Message is validated while the network performs PAN mapping and routes to Pay by Account
###### Step 4
###### Pay by Account
PbA performs Message Translation and sends to issuer, who can now generate reports and provide a platform for dispute resolution
### Use cases
###### Online checkout
Use a merchant app or online browser to perform an e-commerce transaction
###### Contactless payments
Consumers tap their mobile phones against the contactless terminal to initiate and complete the transaction
###### QR payments
Make QR purchases with Mastercard Merchants who display the Mastercard QR payment mark
### Create a best-in-class Pay by Account experience with Experience Design Guide
This guide provides you with the cutting-edge resources needed to effectively implement Mastercard Pay by Account faster, easier, and for less. Find Figma-based white label flows for each use case in the user experience including API callouts and much more.
[View Experience Design Guide](https://developer.mastercard.com/pay-by-account-experience-design-guide/documentation/) 