Enterprise bank — MCP core + A2A
40 systems and many agent teams — the two-layer stack wins.
Open the live lab · pre-loaded to this scenario
Protocol Selection Lab
Context
A bank has 40+ internal systems and multiple agent teams (fraud, servicing, wealth) under central governance. It needs MCP to expose tools vertically and A2A to coordinate agents horizontally.
The decision
Hybrid at enterprise scale: MCP on the tool axis, A2A on the agent axis, under central policy — each protocol on the axis it's built for.
What most miss
Teams debate MCP vs A2A as if it's either/or. At bank scale you have both problems; the answer is the two-layer stack, not a winner.
Stakes
Picking one protocol at enterprise scale re-litigates the architecture the moment the other axis grows.
First-hand · Agent & Protocol · verified 2026-07-03
Sources: Enterprise agent architecture — first-hand (financial services, American Express); MCP + A2A two-layer stack patterns