Module 10: The Future of Payments - Open Banking, A2A, and What's Next

What does the payments stack look like once open banking is real?

The previous nine modules covered how money moves today. This module covers where the rails are going. Open banking, account-to-account payments, central bank digital currencies, and instant-settlement infrastructure are not equally likely to land, and the people making decisions about payments strategy in 2026 need to be able to tell the difference between a trend and a trend-piece.

What you'll learn in this module

• Where open banking has actually shipped (UK, EU, Brazil, India) and where the regulatory shells exist without product (U.S. 1033)
• How A2A payments via Variable Recurring Payments could rewrite subscription economics, and why the timing is contested
• Where CBDCs are real (digital yuan, eNaira) and where they are mostly position papers, and what either means for commercial banks
• The structural difference between instant-settlement payments (FedNow, RTP, UPI, Pix) and the marketing concept of real-time payments
• A 2026-to-2030 scenario map: which rails grow, which compress, and which payment companies are structurally exposed

The complete module connects the five payments-stack shifts into a single map executives can use to prioritize where to invest, where to defend, and where to wait.