Demand For Real-Time Payments Heats Up

More corporates are showing an interest in real-time payments — and financial players are gearing up to help.

A recent survey of corporates and payment service providers, conducted by TD Bank at the 2018 NACHA PAYMENTS Conference, found that the potential of faster payments seems to be capturing the imaginations of a significant share of corporate respondents. Forty-two percent of respondents said they believe the integration of real-time payments with online banking will be the most significant innovation in the commercial payments sector over the next three to five years.

That response overshadowed how other emerging technologies were rated: Artificial intelligence and machine learning, for example, were cited by just 20 percent of respondents, followed by blockchain (11 percent) and biometrics (4 percent).

Fortunately, corporates may find it easier to leverage these systems as use of real-time payments expands and financial players work to provide access.

Demand for faster payments isn’t limited to the U.S. This November, Europe will see the launch of the Eurosystem’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service. Financial players in the region are already working to support access, with SWIFT recently announcing that it had passed the necessary compliance checks and received approval to connect to TIPS. That connection will be offered through the company’s SWIFTNet Instant payments platform, which will go live in November, and also will enable access to EBA Clearing’s RT1 scheme.

Meanwhile, banks in Aruba are also making major systems upgrade. The Caribbean island’s central bank, Centrale Bank van Aruba, recently announced plans to replace its current clearing and settlements system with an instant payments system by January 2019. The bank contracted with European payments and transactional services company equensWorldline SE for the new infrastructure, which is intended to provide 24/7/365 interbank processing of payments initiated in the country’s currency, Aruban florin.

Even in countries where real-time schemes are already live, access to the services continues to grow. In the U.S., for instance, Pittsburgh, PA-based PNC Bank recently announced that its corporate Treasury Management clients are now able to send payments via The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payments scheme.

From the U.S. to Europe to Aruba, payments are speeding up and the faster services are being extended to meet the needs of corporates. Find out more about the rewards for building a direct connection to a faster payments scheme, including independence from legacy banks and new partnerships with major financial innovators, here.