TCH Reveals Real-Time Payments Plan (And Pilot)

The Clearing House (TCH) is developing a real-time payments solution in the U.S., but it can’t do it alone.

Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with ACI Worldwide, a global payments company, that will help design and build a way to connect into TCH’s real-time payments tool.

The Clearing House announced another collaborative effort on Monday (April 18), this time with FinTech firm Fidelity National Information Services, also known as FIS.

FIS will help TCH launch a pilot program for early financial institution adopters of its real-time payments solution, which won’t see a broader test until early 2017. FIS’ technology will use the TCH platform for real-time bill payments, reports said, while FIS will also be using TCH’s infrastructure to create new solutions for its banking and FI clients.

“True, real-time payments that clear and settle within seconds are right around the corner,” said TCH Executive Vice President of Product Development and Strategy Russ Waterhouse in a statement. “Not only is FIS helping us bring this system to market quickly, they are also going to play a key role in helping us achieve ubiquity in the U.S.”

Earlier this month, the National Automatic Clearing House Association, or NACHA, published the latest data to gauge use of ACH payments technology as the industry moves towards real-time payments capabilities. Researchers found increasing use of the payment rail by corporates for B2B payments and payroll, a finding that NACHA said supports its earlier conclusions that B2B payments and payroll will be some of the biggest users of same-day ACH technology, another initiative towards the real-time payments goal.

FIS recently invested in its position within corporate banking through an acquisition of financial software company SunGard last year, a deal worth $9.1 billion.