Visa A2A payments land in the UK
0
Visa A2A promises to give Brits greater choice, control and protection over how they pay via bank transfers.
The firm says it will let people easily manage their bills and subscriptions through their bank app while effectively providing a similar level of protection typically associated with card payments.
For businesses, Visa A2A takes advantage of real-time settlement through Pay.UK's Faster Payment System to offer greater visibility over payments and simpler cash flow management.
Firms can take advantage of the digital nature of the service to get notifications if a consumer changes or cancels payment permissions, and it also provides them with the ability to include more transaction data for reconciliation.
With an operational technology platform ready to process bills and subscriptions, Visa plans to expand Visa A2A to include ecommerce payments in the UK with a phased approach.
The firm is also working with an open model that will enable banks and other industry partners to join and extend open banking-enabled payments to businesses.
Mandy Lamb, MD, Visa UK and Ireland, says: "Visa A2A is a game-changer - it means for the first time UK consumers and businesses using pay by bank will benefit from a similar level of protection typically associated with card payments."
Isabel Pitt, deputy director of payments, Nationwide, adds: "A2A payments are rapidly gaining traction across UK businesses and consumers, offering a seamless and efficient way to transact.
However, for these payments to reach their full potential, the right framework - rules, capabilities, and protections - must be in place. That's why we're excited to collaborate with Visa and our industry partners to bring Visa A2A to the UK."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
4chan will refuse to pay daily UK fines, its lawyer tells BBC
A lawyer representing the online message board 4chan says it won't pay a proposed fine by the UK's media regulator as it enforces the Online Safety to Preston Byrne, managing partner of law firm Byrne & Storm, Ofcom has provisionally decided to impose a £20,000 fine "with daily penalties thereafter" for as long as the site fails to comply with its request."Ofcom's notices create no legal obligations in the United States," he told the BBC, adding he believed the regulator's investigation was part of an "illegal campaign of harassment" against US tech has declined to comment while its investigation continues. "4chan has broken no laws in the United States - my client will not pay any penalty," Mr Byrne began investigating 4chan over whether it was complying with its obligations under the UK's Online Safety in August, it said it had issued 4chan with "a provisional notice of contravention" for failing to comply with two requests for said its investigation would examine whether the message board was complying with the act, including requirements to protect its users from illegal content.4chan has often been at the heart of online controversies in its 22 years, including misogynistic campaigns and conspiracy are anonymous, which can often lead to extreme content being posted. 'First Amendment rights' In a statement posted on X, law firms Byrne & Storm and Coleman Law said 4chan was a US company incorporated in the US, and therefore protected against the UK law."American businesses do not surrender their First Amendment rights because a foreign bureaucrat sends them an email," they wrote."Under settled principles of US law, American courts will not enforce foreign penal fines or censorship codes. "If necessary, we will seek appropriate relief in US federal court to confirm these principles."They said authorities in the US had been "briefed" on their response to Ofcom's statement concludes by calling on the Trump administration to invoke all diplomatic and legal levers to protect American businesses from "extraterritorial censorship mandates".Ofcom has previously said the Online Safety Act only requires services to take action to protect users based in the UK. UK backs down Some American politicians - particularly the Trump administration, its allies and officials - have pushed back against what they regard as overreach in the regulation of US tech firms by the UK and EU. A perceived impact of the Online Safety Act on free speech has been a particular concern, but other laws have also been the source of 19 August, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the UK had withdrawn its controversial demand for a "backdoor" in an Apple data protection system - saying she worked with the President and Vice President to get the UK to abandon its days later, US Federal Trade Commission chairman Andrew Ferguson warned big tech firms they could be violating US law if they weakened privacy and data security requirements by complying with international laws such as the Online Safety Act."Foreign governments seeking to limit free expression or weaken data security in the United States might count on the fact that companies have an incentive to simplify their operations and legal compliance measures by applying uniform policies across jurisdictions," he 4chan does successfully fight the fine in the US courts, Ofcom may have other options."Enforcing against an offshore provider is tricky," Emma Drake, partner of online safety and privacy at law firm Bird and Bird, told the BBC. "Ofcom can instead ask a court to order other services to disrupt a provider's UK business, such as requiring a service's removal from search results or blocking of UK payments."If Ofcom doesn't think this will be enough to prevent significant harm, it can even ask that ISPs be ordered to block UK access." Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
New software could reduce NHS waiting lists for prosthetic legs, study finds
New software which personalises prosthetic leg fittings based on data from previous patients could help reduce NHS waiting lists, a study has found. The data-driven fittings for below the knee prosthetics were, on average, as comfortable for patients as those created by highly skilled prosthetists, the NHS trial suggested. Technology developed by Radii Devices and the University of Southampton is hoping to halve the number of clinical visits for the fitting from an average of four to two using the software. The new technology is built to provide a personalised 'socket' using data from other fittings and a 3D scan of the residual limb to immediately generate a basic design. The CEO and founder of Radii Devices, Dr Joshua Steer, said analysing hundreds of previous sockets allowed them to 'identify trends' between different patient characteristics. 'We can then scan a new patient's residual limb and generate a personalised design recommendation based on features that have been successful for similar patients in the past,' he explained. The results of an NHS trial published on Friday in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology suggest the new designs are on average as comfortable as those created by a prosthetist. Nineteen sockets were made for 17 participants, as two participants were double amputees, and all bar one of the sockets were above the 'NHS comfort score target', the Radii Devices CEO said. Of those 19 sockets, six of the new designs were reportedly more comfortable than normal prosthetics, while five were less and eight were very similar. Prosthetic sockets are personalised to ensure they are comfortable and functional, as they need to bear a person's body weight without damaging limb tissue or creating discomfort. Traditionally, a prosthetist makes a plaster cast of the leg and reshapes it to produce a socket which achieves the right balance, producing trial versions before settling on a definitive one. Radii Devices says the NHS currently tries to deliver a prosthetic in four clinical visits roughly a month from their first appointment, while the new system can aim for a 'gold standard' of two appointments. Alex Dickinson, Professor of Prosthetics Engineering at the University of Southampton – who helped to develop the new method, acknowledges that it has limits. He said: 'Only a highly skilled prosthetist can identify things like bone spurs and neuromas, and know how to tweak designs to avoid causing pain or damage at these sensitive areas. 'We developed the data-driven socket design approach to save prosthetists' time by giving them a solid base to work from so they can use their expertise where it is most valuable, in making precise adaptations tailored to their patients' specific needs. 'The method effectively helps prosthetists to learn from each other.' Another co-author, Professor Maggie Donovan-Hall, said it was 'surprising and encouraging' that the data-driven sockets performed so well in a test designed as a 'worst case' scenario where they received no additional input from prosthetists. Nearly 100 people have now had a prosthetic leg designed this way, across multiple centres in the UK and the USA. The study has now moved into its final stage where the new software is developed alongside clinicians to see how it can be best incorporated into their practices.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
Consumer confidence reaches highest point of year despite ‘clouds on horizon'
Consumer confidence has reached its highest point this year amid 'clouds on the horizon' in the form of inflation and rising unemployment, according to a long-running survey. GfK's Consumer Confidence Index increased by two points to minus 17 in August, driven by improved personal finances likely thanks to the latest cut to interest rates. Earlier this month, the Bank of England voted to cut its base interest rate from 4.25% to 4%. Confidence in personal finances over both the last year and the coming 12 months rose three points, to minus four and positive five respectively. The measure for the general economic situation of the country during the last 12 months is up two points to minus 42 – seven points worse than a year ago – while the expectations for the next 12 months fell one point to minus 30 – 15 points worse than last August. The major purchase index – a measure of confidence in buying big ticket items – is up two points to minus 13. Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said: 'The biggest changes in August are in confidence in personal finances, with the scores looking back and ahead a year each up by three points. 'This is likely due to the Bank of England's August 7 cut in interest rates, delivering the lowest cost of borrowing for more than two years. 'The improved sentiment on personal finances is welcome, but there are many clouds on the horizon in the form of inflation – the highest since January 2024 – and rising unemployment. 'There's no shortage of speculation, too, about what the autumn budget will bring in terms of tax rises.' He added: 'While August's overall index score of minus 17 is the best this year, consumer confidence continues to move in a very narrow band, and there's no sense that it is about to break out into fresher, more optimistic territory. 'The UK's consumers are still in wait-and-see mode, and any surprises could result in sudden and sharp changes in sentiment.'
