What’s Shaping the Future of U.S. Payments? Q&A with Aeropay CCO Sarah Stapp

In life, in love, and in the evolution of U.S. payments — timing is everything. 

Sarah Stapp, a 15-year veteran in the payments industry, believes right now is the time for sweeping change in the U.S. money movement system. 

In fact, the Braintree, PayPal, and Rvvup alumna is so confident that she’s doubled down on the emergence of account-to-account (A2A) payments and joined Aeropay! 

We are very excited to welcome Sarah Stapp as Aeropay’s new Chief Commercial Officer.

Get to know self-proclaimed “payments nerd,” Sarah Stapp, and understand her outlook and insights on the evolution of U.S. payments. 

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Most U.S. adults have a credit card. Who’s paying for all those rewards, points, and miles? 

Sarah: Merchants! Many people outside of payments historically haven’t realized the cash back and miles we earn on every credit card swipe is paid by the very businesses we shop at. 

Now, in the U.S. at least, we’ve reached an inflection point. Merchants keep seeing interchange fees rise so more and more are passing those costs onto consumers or offering cash discounts. 

In turn, consumers are now becoming educated on the ecosystem of cash back, points and miles and looking for alternatives that are as easy to use as their credit card. 

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What is the consumer’s role in helping to shift U.S. payments? 

Sarah: When I think about account-to-account payments, I try to be realistic. Just like any emerging payment solution — buy now, pay later, debit routing, or 3DS 2.0 — success or failure comes down to the consumer. 

It's all about what you're asking them to change, and it’s all tied to psychology. 

Humans tend to take the path of least resistance. Most aren’t going to change payment methods because it’s cheaper for the business, they have to see the value for themselves.

That’s something I’m especially excited about — helping to make sure we meet, and even exceed consumer needs. 

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What will it take to gather widespread consumer A2A adoption?

Sarah: For people to change their behavior, whatever you're offering has to be cheaper, easier, or bring some kind of joy.

Cheaper 

What we’re seeing as fees are passed onto consumers is an increase in education and understanding. People are asking questions, like “Why am I paying a 3% fee for 1% cash back?”

We see this a lot with rent, property taxes, or utility payments — there are additional fees to pay with cards. 

That’s where pay by bank fits in as a clean alternative. It’s the obvious choice in that circumstance. 

Easier

In a lot of situations, cards are actually pretty convenient. You can add them to digital wallets, tap to pay, and so on.

But how often do you have to update your card numbers for subscriptions, online retailers, or marketplaces? We get a new card every two or three  years, but bank accounts rarely change with the average age of a consumer bank account sitting at 17 years. 

The reality is, paying by bank is actually easier than cards in most situations — it’s about getting that first bank connection established, then every future payment can be a single click.  

More rewarding

Incentivizing account-to-account payments also makes a lot of sense because the method already saves merchants money. If you’re cutting out a 3% fee, why not offer a small incentive? 

For example, T-Mobile offers $10 off if you switch to pay by bank. As a consumer, I think, "Sure, I'll take $10 if it's just a few clicks." 

You do it once, and you don’t have to worry about it again. That’s how you overcome any friction or hesitation people might have when switching from credit or debit cards — especially when they're used to Google Pay or Apple Pay. You incentivize them to complete that one-time setup.

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After 15 years in payments, what brought you to Aeropay?  

Sarah: It was really a matter of timing. 

I’ve been bullish on A2A because it’s as easy and seamless as cards, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, but at a much lower cost. 

What I wasn’t seeing was a company with the right foundation to bridge the consumer gap and successfully bring A2A to the U.S. market. 

Aeropay was created specifically for account-to-account payments in the United States. Everything is under one roof and built in-house. It’s not a cobbled together solution. And it’s not an overseas operator looking to get in on the U.S. market. 

That’s what really drew me to Aeropay from the start. They looked at what was out there and said, "Why don’t we do that, but better?" They’ve built everything in-house, ensuring that all the tools work together seamlessly rather than relying on a patchwork of solutions. That’s the right way to ensure everything functions well in the end.

The advantage of this foundation is you can maneuver with the market, get fancy, and make informed decisions to keep authorization rates very high while limiting returns.

When you layer on everything else; merchant demand for an alternative to high card processing rates, a digitally native workforce, and new open banking regulations — everything just lined up perfectly.

And last but certainly not least, the people and the culture really drew me to join the team. At every level there are passionate payments people who focus on A2A day in and day out.  They are innovative, curious, customer focused and driven.  This kind of planetary alignment doesn’t come along often, and I am honored to be part of the journey and the magic.

I’m excited to get started and help carry Aeropay’s momentum forward. 2025 will be a year to remember.