U.S. Bank, Apex Fintech Solutions to deliver real-time payments to brokerages

By Edlyn Cardoza

U.S. Bank recently announced a real-time payment collaboration with Apex Fintech Solutions to provide greater speed and security to money movement between individual investors and broker-dealers.

Through its subsidiary Apex Clearing Corporation, Apex provides clearing and custody services to some of the top online brokerages, powering the future of digital wealth management through innovation. With this real-time payment solution, brokerages using Apex will be able to offer individual investors a more streamlined payment solution that enables instant funding of their brokerage accounts and instant disbursement from their brokerage accounts to their bank accounts.

“U.S. Bank is focused on making the adoption of real-time payments simple and effortless so businesses and consumers can take advantage of the power of instant payments,” said Shailesh Kotwal, Vice-Chair, Payment Services at U.S. Bank. “We’re proud to work with Apex to help remove payment pain points for brokerages and individual investors, who stand to greatly benefit from the speed and security of real-time payments.”

“The need for real-time payments has been steadily growing across multiple industries. At Apex, we are committed to driving innovation to stay ahead of consumer demands and are pleased to provide safe, easy, and seamless access to payment solutions,” said Bill Capuzzi, CEO at Apex. “U.S. Bank is a trusted partner, and we’re thrilled to bring real-time payments to market as we deliver a customer-centric solution to our clients.”

In recent months, U.S. Bank and Apex have worked together to develop a tailored solution that will create a frictionless payment experience for individual investors. From their broker dealer’s app or website, investors will be able to use real-time payments to request:

• Immediate movement of funds from their bank account instantly into their brokerage account 24/7/365, reducing the risk and operational hassles of an ACH return for broker-dealers;
• Movement of funds from their brokerage account instantly into their bank account, enabling immediate access and an improved investing experience.

Real-time payments are expected to be available for brokerages using the Apex platform in the third quarter of 2022.

With The Clearing House’s RTP® Network, the first new payment rail in the U.S. in more than 40 years, U.S. Bank helps businesses send and receive payments instantly, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. U.S. Bank, which participated in the first-ever payment on the RTP Network, is one of the top senders of RTP transactions in the U.S. The bank is continually developing new ways for companies to utilise real-time payments, such as a new Request for Payment solution for billers.