Volume of real-time payments surges during pandemic, FIS reports in new study

According to the press release, FIS’ seventh annual Flavors of Fast report highlights key findings about real-time payments networks across the globe, including:

• Six countries have seen a twofold or greater increase in number of real-time payments processed over the past year – Bahrain (657%), Ghana (488%), Philippines (309%), Australia (214%), India (213%), and Poland (208%);

• Over the same time, four countries have seen a twofold or greater increase in the monetary value of real-time payments transactions – Philippines (482%), Bahrain (311%), Australia (231%), and Ghana (222%);

• India remains as the leader in real-time payments, processing 41 million real-time transactions per day, more than any other country;

• South Korea reported the highest number of real-time transactions per capita, with 75 transactions per citizen, per year processed through the country’s HOFINET scheme;

• In the US more than 130 financial institutions are currently implementing real-time payments, a five-fold increase since September 2019;

• More than half (56%) of all European payments service providers have joined the pan-European SEPA Credit Transfer Instant Payments network, which brings cross-border and instant payments to 20 countries;

• Vietnam and Hungary added real-time payments networks since 2019, bringing the total number of countries with such schemes to 56.

Furthermore, Request-to-Pay (R2P), cross-border payments, and corporate treasury business-to-business payments are driving adoption of real-time payments networks globally, according to the FIS report, as R2P systems offer a convenient and flexible way for people, businesses, and governments to request a payment from a third-party.