US real-time payments are in their early days, but show steady growth

RTPs account for less than 2 per cent of total US payment transactions, but demand is increasing

by Liz Lumley

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US real-time payments are in their early days, but show steady growth

Image: pressureUA/Getty Images

Ever since the UK launched its own system — Faster Payments — in 2008, real-time payment schemes have been on a continuous march across the globe. Whether spurred by a regulatory mandate or driven by market forces, instant payments are now established in Australia, Singapore and Brazil, among other countries.

Real-time payments accounted for 266.2bn transactions globally in 2023, a year-over-year growth of 42.2 per cent according to the 2024 Prime Time for Real-Time Report from global payments processing provider ACI.

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Liz Lumley

Liz Lumley is deputy editor at The Banker. She is a global specialist commentator on global financial technology or “fintech”. She has spent 30 years working in the financial technology space, most recently as director at VC Innovations and architect of the Fintech Talents Festival, managing director at Startupbootcamp FinTech London and an editor at financial services and technology newswire, Finextra. She was named Journalist of the Year for Technology and Digital Finance at State Street’s UK Press Awards for 2022.