Faster Payments: The Benefits to Businesses

In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, businesses are constantly seeking innovative solutions to streamline their operations and improve customer experiences. One solution that has gained significant traction is faster payments. Faster payments, especially instant payments, revolutionize the way businesses send and receive money As businesses strive to stay competitive and meet the evolving expectations of their customers, understanding the benefits of faster payments is important. In this blog, we will explore the advantages that faster payments bring to businesses such as enhanced cash flow management, customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and more. 

Understanding Faster Payments

Faster payments revolutionize the way businesses send and receive funds eliminating the need for lengthy processing times. Real-time payments are even better, allowing businesses to send and receive funds in real-time, which provides immediate access to liquidity and enables timely financial decisions.

Benefits for Businesses

• Accelerated Cash Flow: Faster payments enable businesses to expedite their cash flow, minimizing the time between invoicing and receiving funds. According to recent studies, businesses that adopt faster payment solutions experience a significant reduction in payment cycle times, resulting in improved liquidity and better working capital management. Cebr projects real-time transactions will rise to 8.9 billion in 2026— providing a $2 billion net savings for consumers and businesses.
• Higher Customer Satisfaction: In today's era of instant gratification, customers expect quick and seamless payment experiences. Faster payments enable businesses to meet and exceed these expectations, leading to highercustomer satisfaction. According to the Federal Reserve Survey, nearly 80% of individuals are interested in leveraging faster payments to pay businesses, and 60% want a real-time view of their account balance and immediate posting of payments they initiate. Real-time payments are increasingly becoming expected by consumers. By meeting this demand, businesses can increase customer loyalty and repeat business.
• Improved Cash Flow Forecasting: Accurate cash flow forecasting is critical for businesses to make informed decisions and plan for future growth. 72.9% of businesses in a PYMNTS survey said that improvement to their cash flow management was an important benefit of real-time payments. With faster payments, organizations gain real-time visibility into incoming funds, allowing for more accurate cash flow forecasting. This enhanced predictability enables businesses to optimize their working capital, invest in growth opportunities, and mitigate financial risks 
• Increased Efficiency and Productivity: Faster payments eliminate manual tasks and streamline payment processes, allowing businesses to allocate resources more efficiently. By reducing the time and effort spent on manual reconciliation and administration, businesses can redirect their focus and resources toward core operations and strategic initiatives. This increased efficiency leads to improved productivity and overall business performance. By automating payment processes and reducing manual intervention, businesses can free up valuable employee time.

Benefits for Financial Institutions:

Faster payments provide financial institutions with a competitive advantage in the market. According to an article by Alacriti, Consumers Demand Faster Payments, businesses can leverage real-time payments to meet evolving customer expectations and drive innovation in the industry. With increased competition and commoditization of banking products and services, innovation and improved customer experience become essential for differentiation. By embracing real-time payments, financial institutions can meet consumer expectations for speed and convenience, offering immediate bill payments and instant credit, which helps customers avoid late payments and fees. This convenience can create new revenue opportunities as consumers are willing to pay for the privilege of receiving immediate payments. Real-time payment capabilities also attract and retain corporate banking clients, allowing FIs to enhance their treasury services and explore new streams of revenue.

Additionally, by leveraging APIs and partnering with fintech providers, FIs can expand their capabilities and embed payment services into existing products or services, turning payments into a tool for growth rather than a hurdle to overcome. The transparency offered by faster payments improves operational efficiency, provides visibility into fees, and enables FIs to offer cost-effective money movement options. With real-time payments, FIs have the leverage to meet consumer expectations for a wider variety of delivery options in terms of speed and cost. This allows them toto remain competitive, drive customer satisfaction, and position themselves as leaders in the rapidly changing landscape of financial services.

Future Trends and Opportunities:

• Request-for-Pay (RfP): Request-for-Pay is a real-time payments channel that benefits businesses by simplifying transactions. It allows payees to initiate payment requests, which are received digitally by payers on their mobile devices. Payers can accept or reject the request, triggering a real-time transfer to the payee. This streamlined process eliminates the need for remembering account details and enables faster transactions. RfP also presents opportunities for businesses to improve conversion rates, receive immediate funds, and explore new revenue streams through partnerships. Overall, it empowers businesses to enhance payment experiences and increase operational efficiency.
• FedNow^SM Service: The Launch of the FedNow service in July is another step toward ubiquity for real-time payments.. With the FedNow Service, businesses can enjoy faster and more efficient payment processing, receiving instant payments without waiting periods. This improves cash flow management, enhances customer service, and attracts customers in industries where speed is critical. Additionally, FedNow includes real-time transaction monitoring and advanced fraud detection capabilities, providing businesses with increased security. 

An Opportunity for Businesses:

The shift towards faster payments presents a remarkable opportunity for businesses to transform their financial processes, establish a competitive edge, and exceed evolving customer expectations. As the payment landscape continues to evolve rapidly, it is crucial for businesses to stay informed and proactively adopt innovative solutions to unlock their full potential. By embracing faster payments, businesses can unlock new opportunities for growth and success in the digital age.

For more on business use cases for real-time payments, watch the webinar, Making the (Use) Case for Faster Payments, featuring The Clearing House and the U.S. Faster Payments Council. 

Alacriti’s centralized payment platform, Orbipay Payments Hub, provides innovation opportunities and the ability to make smart routing decisions at the financial institution to meet their individual needs. Financial institutions can take full ownership of their payments and control their evolution with ACH, Wire, TCH’s RTP® network, Visa Direct, and the FedNow^SM Service, all on one cloud-based platform. To speak with an Alacriti payments expert, please contact us at (908) 791-2916 or info@alacriti.com.