Is this the same as a SEPA transfer?

Related but not identical. A SEPA transfer is initiated by the customer from their bank against a reference you gave them; an account-to-account payment is initiated from the checkout and confirmed in their bank app, so the payment is pre-filled and immediate rather than typed out.

Why would I offer this if I already take cards?

Cost and finality. There's no interchange in the flow and no card-scheme chargeback window, which for higher-value orders can matter more than the convenience of a saved card.

Do customers trust it?

The approval happens inside their own banking app, which is generally the most trusted screen in the flow. There's no merchant page asking for card details, which is often the point at which a cautious buyer abandons.

Can I refund an account-to-account payment?

Yes, against the order like any other refund, with a required reason. The funds return to the account that paid, typically within a few business days.

/// Method · Bank

Bank to bank, confirmed in their own app.

Account-to-account payments skip the card networks entirely: the customer picks their bank, confirms in the app they already have open, and the money moves directly. No card details, no wallet, and for the merchant, a cost structure that doesn't scale with the card schemes' interchange.

See Protocore Gateway All payment methods

A2A

No card in the middle

Their app

Confirmed where they bank

EUR

Settled on one reference

Instant

Where the bank supports it

/// How it runs

Four steps, none of them a card.

[ 01 ]
CHOOSE
The customer picks their bank from the checkout.
[ 02 ]
CONFIRM
They approve the payment in their own banking app, with their own authentication.
[ 03 ]
MOVE
Funds move bank to bank, instantly where the payer's bank supports it.
[ 04 ]
SETTLE
The order flips to paid and settles to EUR in your usual payout.

/// 01

What the customer sees

Their own bank's login and approval screen, which is the most trusted interface in the transaction. Nothing is typed into a merchant page — no card number, no CVV, no address — and the authentication is the one they already use for their own banking.

[ 01 ]Their bank's own app and authentication
[ 02 ]No card details entered anywhere
[ 03 ]Fewer steps than a card payment on mobile

/// 02

What you receive

Euros against the same order reference as every other method, in the same payout. Because there's no card in the flow, there's also no chargeback mechanism in the card-scheme sense — the trade-off is a lower dispute exposure against a payment that is harder to reverse for a customer who genuinely needs it reversed.

[ 01 ]One EUR payout line covering every method
[ 02 ]No card-scheme chargeback exposure on these payments
[ 03 ]Refunds issued against the order, back to the paying account

/// 03

What it takes to switch on

A toggle, and a decision about which countries you want it presented in — the bank list a customer sees is driven by where they are, so a Romanian buyer and a German buyer see their own banks rather than a single generic list.

/// FAQ

Account-to-account — questions merchants ask.

Related but not identical. A SEPA transfer is initiated by the customer from their bank against a reference you gave them; an account-to-account payment is initiated from the checkout and confirmed in their bank app, so the payment is pre-filled and immediate rather than typed out.
Cost and finality. There's no interchange in the flow and no card-scheme chargeback window, which for higher-value orders can matter more than the convenience of a saved card.
The approval happens inside their own banking app, which is generally the most trusted screen in the flow. There's no merchant page asking for card details, which is often the point at which a cautious buyer abandons.
Yes, against the order like any other refund, with a required reason. The funds return to the account that paid, typically within a few business days.