Margo Giles, Senior Vice President of Payment Operations, Alloya Corporate FCU
Jim Schneck, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, Alloya Corporate FCU

Seemingly out of nowhere, some things take the world by storm and leave us wondering how “salty” became an adjective for people and “tea” a synonym for “gossip.” If real-time payments are having the same effect, you’ve come to the right place.

Defining Real-Time Payments

Over the last two years especially, there’s been a lot of talk about faster and real-time payments, and the changes they’re expected to prompt within the financial services industry. In that time, we’ve found that a railroad metaphor can help us more easily visualize how faster and real-time payments differ from legacy forms of payment.

Real-time payments are a type of faster payment using new rails, built from the ground up, to move transactions instantly. Just as locomotives have evolved over the centuries from being powered by coal and steam to diesel and electricity in order to improve efficiency and customer experience, so too have payments.

Furthermore, faster and real-time payments are not one and the same. Same day ACH transfers were the first form of faster payment to debut, taking up to several hours on a weekday. The next faster payment to come onto the scene, debit card push payments, take less than 30 minutes, with the average transfer occurring in 18 seconds! Just as ACH and cards run on their own unique networks, so do real-time payments. The first real-time payments network debuted on a new set of rails in 2017. Unlike faster payments, real-time payments move and settle funds instantaneously, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year (24x365). They are also irrevocable: once sent, they are final.

Why Real-Time Payments Matter

A Co-Op CU Growth Outlook (2023) found that credit union members have triple the number of financial relationships as most non-credit union members on average. Furthermore, predictions show that members are willing and likely to migrate their financial relationships to institutions that can provide the experience they want. A credit union’s payment offerings (or lack thereof) have the power to make or break the member relationship, particularly as other non-traditional institutions and fintechs unveil solutions to satisfy the evolving needs of consumers, businesses and merchants.

Understanding the Real-Time Networks

There are two major networks that can facilitate tried-and-true real-time payments.

1. The Clearing House’s RTP® Network

2. The Federal Reserve’s FedNow® Service

The two real-time networks are similar in that they both address the unique features that make a payment real-time (i.e., instant settlement, finality, and immediate funds availability). However, differences exist in areas such as transaction limits, funding requirements and fraud controls that need to be understood as part of the decisioning and implementation processes.

Attributes of Both Networks

• Immediate settlement between financial institutions

• Immediate funds availability

• 24x365 availability and processing

• Transactions must complete within seconds upon submission to the network

• Payments cannot be revoked, recalled, cancelled (they are irrevocable)

• Return of funds can be requested in the event of erroneous payments; there is no regulatory requirement to return the funds, it is up to the receiving financial institution to decide upon

• Both the sending and receiving financial institutions must be connected to the same real-time network to process a given transaction (there is no interoperability between the networks)

• Real-time fraud screening is not required by either network

• Unauthorized payments must be reported to the network

Selecting a Real-Time Network

Connecting to a real-time network is a must in order to offer true real-time payment capabilities to your members. If you want your members to be able to send and receive real-time payments via both the RTP® and FedNow networks, then your credit union will need to be connected to both networks. This is because transactions cannot cross networks.

Ultimately, a credit union’s real-time network decisions will hinge on member expectations as well as operational and financial considerations. It’s up to you to determine what makes sense for your credit union and your members.

Envisioning Real-Time Payments in Real Life

Real-time payments are about more than simply speed and convenience; they have the power to change the way a credit union’s consumer and business members live their lives. Consumers, for example, may seek ways to pay bills at the last minute without being penalized. Gig workers could receive their paycheck for the same day’s work and immediately use those funds for necessities. Business members can optimize their cash flow and have greater confidence that funds received are good to use for purchasing supplies. A credit union’s payment offerings have the potential to fulfill each of these needs. 

Visit www.alloyacorp.org/real-time-payments or connect with your Alloya representative to learn more.