JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global adoption of real-time payment programs by financial institutions is picking up speed, according to new research from FIS™ (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology.
In its fourth annual Flavors of Fast report, FIS identified 25 active real-time payment programs around the world, up from 19 in 2016 and more than double the level of the company’s first study in 2013. Further, the report identified 11 payments programs under development – up from just five in 2016 – and eight more that FIS expects to be announced in the next 12-18 months.
“Interest in real-time payments platforms is growing at an ever-faster pace,” said Anthony Jabbour, chief operating officer, Banking and Payments, FIS. “Financial institutions need to be actively exploring use cases for real-time payments within their own organizations for meeting the requirements of their customers. Those who wait may find themselves left behind as the faster payments revolution takes hold.”
The FIS research included a “Faster Payments Innovation Index” that measured the comprehensiveness of current real-time payments projects. Programs were rated on a scale of 1-5 (5 being highest) in terms of how well they meet the real-time payments needs of consumers, business and corporate customers alike.
The 2017 Flavors of Fast report highlighted three particularly innovative real-time payments programs:
- India’s Unified Payments Interface took home the index’s only 5 rating. The project’s high rating was based on the system’s standard, published application programming interface (API) and strong participation from third-party vendors, which has resulted in high transaction volumes and immediate payment services available across India.
- Finland’s Siirto real-time payments program received an index score 4. Siirto works without a credit or debit card – users can send and receive money with just a mobile phone – and claims to already meet the requirements for PSD2, Europe’s financial information regulations, which will go into effect in 2018.
- Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP), which is scheduled to go live at the end of 2017, has broad support with the country’s four major banks, as well as around many credit unions and mutual banks that plan to offer immediate payment services in remote locations through an Australian Settlements Limited (ASL) managed service.
FIS is working with a number of global financial institutions – ASL, Credit Suisse and Nordea among them – to modernize their payments environments, expand their real-time capabilities, and update real-time fraud and reporting systems.
“Many of our corporate customers reported clear benefits to real-time payments, including improved liquidity planning and better service for customers,” said Claus Richter, head of Customer CM Solutions at Nordea, a Nordic financial services group. “If we do not meet those needs, we risk our customers turning to another outlet for their banking needs.”
“We think about the innovation of real-time payments and we must deliver the system first, for without that, we do not play a role in the future,” said David Jay, chief executive officer, ASL.
To read the full 2017 Flavors of Fast report, visit fisglobal.com/flavors-of-fast-2017.
FIS is a global leader in financial services technology, with a focus on retail and institutional banking, payments, asset and wealth management, risk and compliance, and outsourcing solutions. Through the depth and breadth of our solutions portfolio, global capabilities and domain expertise, FIS serves more than 20,000 clients in over 130 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 53,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing, financial software and banking solutions. Providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that empowers the financial world, FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com.
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