Real-time payments (RTP) has been the rave of recent payments industry news. With the Federal Reserve announcing that it is about to embark upon the creation of a ubiquitous real-time payments framework, the topic is top-of-mind to anyone following payments.
Large private-sector banks are showing some resistance to the idea of the Fed instituting an RTP platform, in some instances because those banks have created and are implementing (or have implemented) their own RTP networks, often citing that the Fed is stepping into an area that should be left to the private sector (and the profits that would go along with that). On the other hand, smaller banks, community banks, credit unions, and other market participants applaud the Fed’s involvement because they believe it will even the playing field and create the greatest opportunity for a system that can be accessed by the greatest number of users and providers.