Deutsche Bank and Mastercard have announced a strategic partnership aimed at accelerating open banking adoption and enhancing account-to-account (A2A) payments across Europe.
The collaboration, unveiled at Money 20/20 in Amsterdam, will integrate Mastercard’s open banking technology into Deutsche Bank’s Merchant Solutions, specifically its Request to Pay (R2P) service.
The partnership aims to give merchants greater flexibility and efficiency in payment processing. “This partnership with Mastercard marks a pivotal moment in the growth of open banking,” said Killian Thalhammer, global head of merchant solutions at Deutsche Bank. “Together, we are delivering innovative merchant solutions that reflect the needs of a digital-first economy—secure, instant, and built for scale.”
Through this collaboration, merchants will be able to offer a “Pay by Bank” option, allowing consumers to authorise payments directly from their bank accounts with real-time processing and confirmation. Mastercard’s open banking technology will be fully integrated into Deutsche Bank’s platform, supporting faster settlement and improved reconciliation.
Valerie Nowak, head of open banking at Mastercard Europe, highlighted the broader impact of the partnership: “Our long-standing collaboration with Deutsche Bank showcases the power of partnerships in transforming how people and businesses interact with money. With the further expansion of our partnership, we combine our open banking payments technology with Deutsche Bank’s payments expertise and big merchant base across Europe, and together we’re shaping a future where account-based payments are becoming the new norm.”
Existing Deutsche Bank R2P customers will transition to the upgraded platform, which aims to set new benchmarks in digital payments and provide an alternative to traditional card-based transactions.
