Collaborators Continue US’s Drive Toward Faster Payments

Whether payments industry stakeholders are moving to develop entirely new infrastructure to improve payments, or to develop new capabilities upon existing infrastructure to make progress, this week’s look at payment rail innovation reflects a focus on industry collaboration to take steps toward faster payments ubiquity.

With investors backing one FinTech focused on developing a new rail for B2B payments, and the U.S. Faster Payments Council embracing a new round of leadership, industry cooperation appears key to financing initiatives and promoting innovation. That’s particularly true in the U.S. as Nacha, the Federal Reserve, The Clearing House and other participants made additional steps toward real-time payments.

SatoshiPay Raises $550K

As SatoshiPay progresses in its initiative to build a new payment rail for B2B transactions, the company saw investment from the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF)’s Enterprise Fund, PYMNTS reported last week. With $550,000 in new funding, SatoshiPay is headed toward a public beta launch of its technology in the year’s fourth quarter, the company noted. This being SDF’s third investment in SatoshiPay, Stellar will continue to collaborate with the company as it targets speed and affordability of cross-border B2B payments based on Stellar’s blockchain infrastructure.

U.S. Makes Faster Payments Progress

The U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) named its 2020 Board of Directors last week, according to a press release sent to PYMNTS, with industry stakeholders joining, including Ripple’s Pat Thelen, Microsoft’s Stuart Dwyer and others. FPC Board Chair Michael Bilski said the Board of Directors will guide the development of the council’s implementation strategy as it aims to guide the U.S. toward faster payments ubiquity. With the Federal Reserve a founding sponsor of the FPC, and with Nacha a collaborator, the council is exploring ways to introduce entirely new payment rails into the U.S. — like the Fed’s FedNow service, which is in development — as well as improve upon existing infrastructure like ACH payments.

Paychex Stakes Real-Time Payments Claim

Payroll technology firm Paychex revealed in a blog post last month that it claims to be the first human resources (HR) solution provider that enables businesses to use real-time payments to compensate employees more quickly. Using The Clearing House’s RTP network, Paychex’s adoption of real-time payments has turned an often-discussed use-case for faster payments — payroll — into a reality. In a statement, Paychex President and CEO Martin Mucci said the pandemic has introduced a new sense of urgency to ensure professionals can be paid as quickly as possible.

Nacha Certifies Secure Payment Systems

In its latest certification, ACH organization Nacha announced that Secure Payment Systems has been awarded Certified status for its accomplishments in compliance and risk management. According to Nacha’s announcement, Secure Payment Systems moves $18 billion every year via ACH across the U.S. and Canada to retail, wholesale and corporate recipients. “High quality payments are an integral part of a strong ACH Network,” said Nacha Senior Vice President of ACH Network Administration Michael Herd in a statement.