When most financial institutions first explored instant payments, they focused on consumer-facing wins—P2P transfers, faster disbursements, and keeping pace with big-bank digital experiences. But early adopters are finding the strongest ROI in unexpected areas: inside the institution. Operational workflows, settlement timing, and internal money movement—long constrained by legacy rails—are now being reworked in real time.
In Alacriti’s Payments Podcast episode Instant Payments Use Cases at Veridian Credit Union, Amy Faley, manager of ACH at Veridian Credit Union, and Mark Majeske, SVP of Faster Payments at Alacriti, addressed the top questions they hear today. Faley described what changed after go-live: “Really, one of the biggest intriguing things for us starting out was how this was going to help with some of our internal processes for indirect lending and mortgage closings, etc.” For Veridian, instant payments didn’t just modernize the member experience—it also streamlined the work behind the scenes.
Mortgage & Auto Payoffs: When “After Hours” Becomes an Advantage
Traditional payoffs rely on cutoff windows, overnight posting, or next-business-day settlement, which creates friction for both the member and the FI. Instant payments eliminate that lag entirely. A mortgage payoff at 6:30 pm no longer becomes a next-day issue—it becomes a right now opportunity.
This is especially meaningful in indirect lending, where timing often decides who gets—and keeps—the relationship. Faley shared they are already seeing how speed improves positioning in the market: “As we’re starting to move down that road… absolutely. We’re able to create some new business links.”
Indirect Lending: Speed as a Competitive Edge
Instant settlement also removes hesitation from dealer relationships. Instead of playing within banking hours, credit unions can operate at the speed of the transaction—which is exactly what dealers prefer. Faster funding equals stronger, stickier partnerships, which translates to pipeline strength.
The shift isn’t theoretical—it’s operational: credit unions are discovering that because internal movement of funds is instant, their lending teams can approve, process, and close sooner.
Internal Transfers & Operational Workflows
Not every win is member-visible. Operational improvements like same-day reconciliation, last-minute adjustments, and weekend processing are quietly becoming some of the most valuable internal use cases. Once an institution recognizes that “instant” also applies internally, adoption is a chain reaction rather than a leap.
These internal efficiencies become the backbone of consumer-facing innovation. Without them, scaling faster experiences externally is more difficult. With them, accelerated service becomes the default.
Why These Use Cases Hit So Close to Home
For credit unions, trust is built through responsiveness, and responsiveness is often constrained by time. Instant payments remove the constraint. That’s why the most strategically valuable use cases weren’t necessarily the ones the market predicted; they were the ones tied to service, not just rails.
To learn more about instant payments use cases, read Instant Payments Use Case Framework: Use Cases and Revenue Drivers.
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 TCH’s RTP® network, the FedNow® Service, Zelle®, Fedwire, ACH, and Visa Direct, all on one cloud-based platform. To speak with an Alacriti payments expert, please contact us at (908) 791-2916 or info@alacriti.com.
