FIS: real-time payments surge in pandemic

By Robin Amlot

Research released by FIS shows that adoption and usage of real-time payments has accelerated amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and that real-time rails are now offering capabilities that extend beyond instant payments. FIS’ seventh annual Flavors of Fast report highlights key findings about real-time payments networks across the globe:

• Six countries have seen a twofold or greater increase in number of real-time payments processed over the past year:
  • Bahrain (657%), Ghana (488%), Philippines (309%), Australia (214%), India (213%) and Poland (208%).
• Over the same time, four countries have seen a twofold or greater increase in the monetary value of real-time payments transactions:
  • Philippines (482%), Bahrain (311%), Australia (231%) and Ghana (222%).
• India remains the leader in real-time payments, processing 41 million real-time transactions per day, more than any other country.
• South Korea reported the highest number of real-time transactions per capita, with 75 transactions per citizen, per year processed through the country’s HOFINET scheme.
• In the US, more than 130 financial institutions are currently implementing real-time payments, a five-fold increase since September 2019.
• More than half (56%) of all European payments service providers have joined the pan-European SEPA Credit Transfer Instant Payments network, which brings cross-border and instant payments to 20 countries.
• Vietnam and Hungary added real-time payments networks since last year, bringing the total number of countries with such schemes to 56.

Request to Pay (R2P), cross-border payments, and corporate treasury business-to-business payments are driving adoption of real-time payments networks globally, according to FIS. R2P systems offer a convenient and flexible way for people, businesses and governments to request a payment from a third party. The UK government has formally launched a framework for the development of a national R2P system built on international standards. In addition, The Clearing House in the U.S. is working with banks and billers to pilot an R2P service that is expected to launch later this year.

“The current pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of instantly getting funds in the hands of those who need it, whether individuals or businesses,” said Raja Gopalakrishnan, head of Global Real-time Payments at FIS.

The 2020 Flavors of Fast report includes meta-analysis of real-time payments data research conducted in April and May 2020. The report defines real-time or faster payments as funds transferred from one bank account to another with payment confirmation in one minute or less.