The interview below with Nikogiannis Karantzis, CEO of ISX Financial, first appeared in The Paypers' Account to Account Report 2025, on the 25th September 2025. Republished here with permission.
As Founder and CEO of ISX Financial EU Plc, Nikogiannis Karantzis leads the company in redefining financial services across the EEA and the UK through proprietary technology and an advanced payments ecosystem. Offering end-to-end transactional banking, A2A payments, FX, remittance and processing capabilities, ISX continues to drive innovation in the payments sector.
From your perspective, what specific infrastructure or regulatory shifts have accelerated the adoption of Open Banking-based A2A payments?
In Europe and the UK, Open Banking adoption has been underpinned by two critical forces: regulatory clarity and technological readiness. PSD2 compelled banks to expose APIs securely, while schemes such as SEPA Instant and the UK’s Faster Payments Service matured into reliable, near-instantaneous settlement networks.
For merchants, this convergence means transactions settle in seconds, not days, solving one of the most persistent pain points in digital commerce. This shift enables businesses to manage liquidity more effectively, reduce operational risk, and deliver a superior customer experience by aligning payment confirmation with fulfilment readiness. At ISX, we’ve built directly on this foundation, enabling our PaidBy® platform to provide certainty of funds in real time. This isn’t just about faster payments; it’s about transforming operational agility for merchants and enhancing customer trust through immediate delivery readiness.
The broader implications for the financial ecosystem are equally significant. Instant account-to-account (A2A) payments are reshaping traditional settlement models and creating opportunities for innovation in credit, refunds, and even loyalty solutions. As more markets adopt real-time payment infrastructure, Open Banking is positioned to become the default mode for secure, low-cost payments globally.
In which e-commerce verticals have Open Banking A2A integrations proven most successful, and where have technical bottlenecks persisted? What strategies have proven most effective in increasing A2A uptake over other payment methods?
We’ve seen particular success in high-value, trust-sensitive verticals like travel, insurance, and B2B marketplaces. For these sectors, cost efficiency and instant settlement are critical. Merchants value Open Banking’s ability to bypass interchange fees while delivering a payment experience that is both secure and seamless. Customers, in turn, benefit from realtime debits that use funds already in their accounts, aligning with the preference in European markets for debit over credit.
Yet, challenges remain. Fragmented API standards across banks and inconsistent Strong Customer Authentication flows have introduced friction in some markets. ISX addresses these challenges through our unified API layer in PaidBy®, which abstracts complexity and standardises user journeys. This has been instrumental in enabling merchants to focus on their core business without worrying about technical barriers or reconciliation delays.
Adoption also relies on user experience parity. PaidBy® mirrors card-like checkouts for consumers while providing merchants with real-time settlement notifications and automated reconciliation tools. This means businesses no longer rely on manual CSV uploads, turning what was once hours of delay into seconds of certainty. Our approach is not only to replace legacy card networks but also to deliver an operational model that fits modern ecommerce and omnichannel demands.
How is ISX’s PaidBy® solution helping businesses go beyond A2A payments with added-value services?
PaidBy® is designed as a full-stack payment solution. Beyond initiating payments, it provides merchants with dedicated IBANs under our institutional codes and real-time API hooks that notify them the moment funds are received, not merely sent. This distinction is vital. Other providers often confirm initiation, but merchants are left in uncertainty if payments fail due to insufficient funds or blocked accounts.
We’ve also layered value-added services: automated refund management, business intelligence dashboards that analyse transaction patterns, and advanced fraud prevention tools. Our proactive AI models detect behavioural cues like confusion during high-risk transactions, enabling us to intervene against authorised push payment (APP) fraud in real time.
The broader ecosystem benefits from such innovations. PaidBy® allows merchants to integrate payment processes with their ERP systems, ensuring financial operations are tightly aligned. As a result, merchants gain efficiencies across settlement, reconciliation, and customer service, all of which contribute to stronger business resilience and customer satisfaction.
Which industry trends and innovations do you expect to shape Open Banking based A2A payments in the near future?
Three major trends stand out:
1. Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs): these will enable merchants to initiate secure, customer consented pull payments, ideal for subscriptions and utilities. VRPs address one of the longstanding gaps in Open Banking by providing a flexible alternative to direct debits and standing orders.
2. POS integration: Open Banking will extend beyond e-commerce into physical retail. ISX is developing ‘on-glass’ payment solutions for mobile devices and terminals, offering an alternative to card schemes at checkout. This innovation opens up entirely new use cases where merchants can offer instant A2A payments even at the point of sale.
3. Proactive fraud mitigation: the rise of APP fraud demands a shift from reactive reimbursements to preventive measures. ISX leads in this space with AI technology that detects emotional signals of coercion during payment authorisation – a unique, forward-thinking approach.
Looking ahead, the broader industry trend points to Open Banking evolving into Open Finance, where payments converge with lending, savings, and investment services to create more integrated financial ecosystems for merchants and consumers alike. Businesses that embrace these changes early will gain a competitive advantage through lower costs, faster cash flow, and greater customer loyalty.
You can read the original article on The Paypers website here: https://thepaypers.com/payments/interviews/open-banking-a-catalyst-for-the-success-of-a2a-payments
