Consensus believes switch to real-time pay due by 2018

Real-time payments are expected to be universally available across financial services institutions within five years, reveals a recent survey by ACI Worldwide.

More than 200 financial industry professionals from around the world participated in this September 2013 survey, and more than 80% believe the shift from batch to real-time—authorizing and executing transactions, securely and immediately—is within sight.

However, before real-time payments become mainstream or even somewhat adopted, banks must remove silos. Over two thirds (77%) of respondents believe operating in silos is the biggest hindrance to increased innovation. Introducing new concepts and regulatory updates are increasingly difficult due to multiple silos. Migrating to a responsive, enterprise payments platform, with the potential to scale, allows financial institutions to more readily address emerging opportunities such as real-time, online payments, and mobile.

“We’ve long anticipated the move toward real-time payments, and the response from both these survey participants and the community at large further validates our belief,” says Paul Thomalla, senior vice president and managing director of EMEA, ACI Worldwide.

To no one’s surprise, nearly 65% of respondents believe that a fuller mobile/tablet banking experience will be the most in-demand request from corporate customers in the next five years. Mobile devices are quickly becoming the desired vehicle for executing corporate banking activities such as initiating and approving wire payments and monitoring cash flow.

“The same desire for convenience and anywhere, anytime access that has made mobile banking and payments popular among consumers is also fuelling the demand for a rich corporate mobile banking experience, as noted by the survey results,” says Thomalla. “Corporate mobile banking needs to be a seamless part of a larger online banking strategy. To drive the necessary innovation, successful companies will take a universal, enterprise-wide approach to payments infrastructure.”

The survey of more than 200 financial industry professionals was conducted by ACI Worldwide at Sibos 2013 in Dubai on Sept. 16-17, 2013. The global survey includes responses from decision makers at commercial banks, retail banks, technology providers, and credit card/payments providers.