Our opinions on hot topics in the payments industry.

The world of financial services is rapidly changing with the emergence of real-time payments, which have been made possible in the U.S. thanks to the launch of instant payment rails, such as the Federal Reserve’s FedNow® Service.

Between faster payment rails like the Federal Reserve’s FedNow Service, The Clearing House’s RTP, and even Same Day ACH, there are a growing number of payment options for today’s financial institutions.

As the 2023 launch of the Federal Reserve’s instant payment service approaches, banks and credit unions should carefully examine their readiness for faster payments. This includes adjustments to current treasury and back-office operations. Learn how your financial institution can prepare its back office for instant payments.

The value in real-time payments goes beyond the ability to move money in seconds. Financial institutions are quickly realizing the potential of the rich data that comes with 24/7 instant payments. Explore ways to make real-time transaction data work for your institution in this blog post.

As advancements in tech change the way we transact, there are some compelling innovations being discussed, such as Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and not to mention the FedNow Service, the Federal Reserve’s new instant payment offering launching later this summer.

As credit unions continue to grow their business membership, they must consider the ways that faster payments can help their business members. After all, adoption of real-time payments is on the rise and it shows no sign of slowing down.

Banks and credit unions need technology that allows their institution to take advantage of all the benefits ISO 20022 has to offer. But first, there are still some misconceptions about ISO 20022 to address.

Much of the discussion with faster payments centers around person-to-person payments and bill payments, the latter of which will help consumers avoid late fees when making payments right before deadline.  Beyond the advantages of faster payments on the consumer side, there is huge potential for B2B real-time payments.

Through financial institutions participating in the FedNow Service, businesses and individuals can now send and receive instant payments in real time, any time of the day, every day of the year. Like any newly launched technology, there are advantages and disadvantages with the new payment system which this blog will cover.

It’s important to remember that each financial institution’s path to the FedNow Service will be unique. However, there are some common key decisions and activities many organizations should pursue as they look to provide their customers with this new, instant payment service.

An economy where people are financially resilient and have access to economic mobility and advancement is a healthy economy. Instant payments play an important role in advancing this goal.

Embedded payments present an opportunity for financial institutions to rethink their traditional product portfolios. However, before taking the plunge into these new waters of opportunity, it’s important to first have a foundational understanding of what embedded payments are and the benefits they offer.

The FedNow real-time payments service, which launched with 35 financial institutions in July 2023, had grown to more than 600 banks, credit unions and service providers using the platform by mid-March 2024, according to the most recent update from the Federal Reserve, which operates the platform through Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS).

Within financial services, payments are one area that has undergone significant transformation in recent years with the emergence of faster payment services such as FedNow and The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payments network.Yet, the big question that remains to be seen is how financial institutions will scale and monetize these new payment options. This blog will reveal answers to this question.