Customers of digital banks would move 35.4% of their account-to-account (A2A) transfers to pay by bank if they were offered a discount and buyer protection, compared with 25.3% of all consumers, according to “Pay by Bank Deep Dive: Digital Bank Users Are Ready to Switch.” PYMNTS Intelligence produced the study with Trustly and published it in January 2026. It is based on a survey of 2,071 US consumers conducted June 20–30, 2025, and PYMNTS returned to its findings on August 28, 2026.
The study set out to measure how willing digital bank customers really are to move from cards to pay by bank, also known as account-to-account payment. For card issuers and networks, it identifies the segment most likely to switch first, and the conditions it would take.
The shift depends on a discount and buyer protection together
The 35.4% figure is not an unprompted preference. It applies to one scenario, in which the bank offers both a discount and buyer protection comparable to what a card already provides in a dispute. The study does not measure switching without that combined offer. It finds the same pattern in two other use cases: 32% of digital bank customers would switch their bill payments, versus 22% of all consumers, and 22.3% would switch retail purchases, versus 15.4%.
Digital banks are no longer a niche
The study places the finding in a broader context. Digital banks now account for 13.8% of primary banking relationships in the US, edging out local banks at 13.7% and closing in on regional banks at 14.7%. Their customers are younger, earn less, and rely more on mobile devices, and millennials are especially well represented. They are also far keener on digital wallets than the average consumer: 44.6% to 45% of them prefer a wallet as their payment method, against 22.7% of the overall sample.
| Use case | Digital bank customers | All consumers |
|---|---|---|
| Account-to-account transfers | 35.4% | 25.3% |
| Bill payments | 32% | 22% |
| Retail purchases | 22.3% | 15.4% |
Pay by bank has to match the card’s perks to win
For card issuers and networks, the findings do not point to a sudden collapse. Among digital bank customers, 43% say an immediate cash benefit is their main reason to switch. And 72% of all bank customers say they either already see pay by bank as a substitute for a debit card or would if it offered rewards, buyer protection, or both, two features cards have spent decades building. Pay by bank is not winning on the technical simplicity of a bank transfer. It is gaining ground by copying, one by one, the features that have long made cards so strong.
For pay-by-bank providers, starting with Trustly itself, the study reads more like a roadmap than a report card. Most of the switching potential it measures depends on buyer protection that is credible, enforceable, and quick to invoke, more than on the promise of paying directly from a bank account.