Prime Time for Real-Time Payments
According to some experts, it’s time for U.S. banks to get real — real-time payments, that is.
Unlike so-called “faster payments,” real-time payments not only have to post but also settle within seconds. P2P services such as Zelle are moving in that direction, but the real growth potential for banks is the ability to offer the capability to business customers looking for new and better cash management tools. The opportunity is especially high in B2B transactions, which have traditionally taken the form of wire transfers or ACH payments.
For bank marketers serving commercial customers, real-time payments represent a potentially powerful arrow in your cash management story quiver — a chance to attract accounts and build loyalty among valuable customers. For banks who wait it out and rely only on wire transfers and ACH transactions, there’s a real risk that the desire for immediate will have your business customers looking elsewhere, sooner rather than later.
