New research says businesses are eager to make the leap into real-time payments (RTP) — and to embrace new payment rails in their effort. This week’s exploration of the latest in payment rail innovation finds industry heavyweights like Visa, SWIFT and NACHA eyeing speed and data to add value to both new and legacy payment infrastructures.
Businesses Ready To Jump Into RTP
A new survey from Citizens Bank says businesses are jumping into the real-time payments opportunity. According to the financial institution’s report released this week, only 9 percent of the 252 corporate professionals surveyed said they did not have plans to implement the new RTP payment rail, a finding that Citizens Head of Product Solutions Matt Richardson said was a positive sign.
“I’m encouraged to see the level of interest in real-time payments because it offers such tremendous advantages to businesses in terms of speed and certainty of payments,” he said.
The bank highlighted not only the speed with which companies can make payments, but the data that moves along with transactions via RTP that can be particularly beneficial for businesses’ reconciliation and reporting needs.
Faster Payments Council Announces Board Advisory Group
This week, the U.S. Faster Payments Council named the members of the FPC Board Advisory Group, which will advice the FPC Board of Directors and staff to add additional industry insight and expertise as the council continues its work to support the nation’s adoption of faster and real-time payments technologies.
Among the FPC Board Advisory Group’s members are Michael Sklow of Goldman Sachs, Judy Nguyen of American Express, Bridget Hall with ACI Worldwide and Connie Theien of the Federal Reserve.
“We thoughtfully selected this diverse group with industry experts from across the full spectrum of the payments ecosystem including financial institutions, payment network operators, technology providers, and business end users,” said FPC Board Chair Michael Bilski in a statement. “They all share a common passion and interest in advancing the FPC’s mission and we look forward to their valuable contributions.”
AscendantFX Eyes Payment Tracking With gpi
Embracing the opportunity to enhance existing payment rails, AscendantFX Capital announced recently its joining of the SWIFT network and adoption of its gpi service. Ascendant said in an announcement that its participation will enhance its existing aPay payment platform as well as its API capabilities, wielding gpi to elevate transaction tracking within its own solution.
“We are always looking to provide our customers greater clarity into the payment journey,” said AscendantFX Chief Operating Officer Shemina Jiwani. “We plan to use the data SWIFT gpi provides to route payments in the most effective, efficient way possible. SWIFT gpi’s technology is revolutionary for the payments industry and gives power back to the customer.”
SWIFT announced last year that gpi can now integrate into new payment rails, including real-time payment solutions, as well as enhance transactions on existing rails.
Visa Joins NACHA Pilot
Visa has joined the pilot Phixius program operated by NACHA, the companies recently revealed. Phixius is a payment data exchange platform aimed at providing service providers with the ability to manage transaction data pre- and post-payment with a focus on efficiency and security. API connectivity allows for authorized access to a range of data sources, while service providers can link directly to the platform to access that information and other services.
It’s a solution designed to enhance the ACH rail, and with Visa joining as an earlier adopter of the solution, the company said it will wield the technology to add value to its B2B payment services. Adopting Phixius is “a logical next step in the expansion of Visa’s solutions driving efficiency and delivering value-added services to buyers and suppliers,” according to Visa Business Solutions SVP, Global Head of New Payment Flows Alan Koenigsberg.
Azerbaijan Launches Instant Payments Rail
Azerbaijan is the latest country to develop an instant payment rail and recently announced that the Central Bank of Azerbaijan has launched the service in testing phase.
Developed under the State Program for the Expansion of Digital Payments in Azerbaijan for 2018-2020 framework, the instant payment system adheres to internationally-adopted payments infrastructure principles, the CBA said, and can support real-time transactions for consumers, businesses and government entities 24/7, reports in MENAFN said recently.
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