MUFG Intros Corporate Real-Time Payments

MUFG Union Bank is now offering business customers real-time payments on The Clearing House (TCH) RTP network, MUFG announced on Thursday (Jan. 23).

The RTP network provides instantaneous payments that allow customers the convenience of using funds right away. With real-time payments, the process is simplified and saves time, making for better cash flow and financial management.

“Real-time payments offer our clients the payment processing speed to meet their business needs in a rapidly changing digital commerce environment,” said MUFG Head of Global Transaction Banking and Transaction Banking Americas Ranjana Clark, who also serves as the bank’s Bay Area president. “MUFG Union Bank is committed to supporting our clients’ movement toward real-time payments in the United States to enhance their experience.”

The RTP network is the first payments framework created in the U.S. in over 40 years, the release noted. The infrastructure gives financial institutions a contemporary blueprint for domestic payments. The platform also has extensive data functions as well as rapid proof of payment.

With immediate settlement, funds can be cashed out in seconds and businesses will see advanced processing, fraud reduction and more.

“In addition to accelerating the speed and certainty of the transaction, real-time payments provide a standardized message format delivering extensive information throughout the full payment lifecycle. It is a completely new way of thinking about payments,” said MUFG Managing Director and Head of Product, Innovation and Risk Management, Transaction Banking Americas Ray Fattell.

A survey by Silicon Valley analytics firm FICO indicated that the escalation of real-time payments platforms — including person-to-person (P2P) transfers and mobile — has actually increased fraud across Asia Pacific for the majority of banks.

Four out of five banks in that region said that fraud losses have gone up. Almost a quarter expect fraud to go up “significantly” in the next 12 months. Over half anticipate a “moderate” increase.

“While the convenience of real-time payments is great news for customers, increasingly, banks have zero time to clear a transaction or payment,” said Dan McConaghy, president of FICO in Asia Pacific. “Banks will need to move beyond passwords and OTPs and add biometrics, device telemetry and customer behavior analytics to keep up with the changing payments landscape.”

The acceleration of the movement of money is likely to have significant implications for how organizations of all kinds – particularly banks and financial institutions manage liquidity. Planixs Financial Services Director Pete McIntyre said the drive toward real-time payments — and real-time liquidity management — is not only a difficult achievement but one that introduces new challenges for treasurers of financial institutions.