Money can trade in seconds, yet investors may still wait days to receive it. That gap can make a fast digital platform feel surprisingly slow at the exact moment a customer wants access to cash.
“The Power of Now: Moving Money at the Speed of Life: Investment Firms’ Payout Gap” draws on a survey of 120 U.S. investment platform executives who oversee payment decisions.
The report shows that investment platforms have set bold goals for faster payouts. On average, firms want to complete 47% of payouts in real time within three years. Current performance falls far below that target. Only 11% of standard withdrawals arrive within one minute.
That performance gap carries real business costs. Late payments can frustrate investors, increase service requests and create more disputes. They can also add manual work and raise compliance exposure. In a market where customers can move assets to another platform, payout speed can shape loyalty as much as the trading experience.
The report also points to a practical path forward. Platforms that use push-to-debit process a much larger share of payment dollars in real time. They also receive far fewer payment status requests from customers. The data suggests that faster money movement can improve the customer experience while easing pressure on service teams.
In “The Power of Now: Moving Money at the Speed of Life: Investment Firms’ Payout Gap,” learn how:
- Payment delays create different pressures across firms of every size. Customer dissatisfaction affects more than half of platforms in each revenue group. Larger firms report the highest rate of disputes and escalations, while smaller firms report late payouts and reissued payments more often.
- Firm size shapes the obstacles to faster payouts. Mid-sized platforms face the most pressure from system costs and compatibility issues. Smaller firms are more concerned about check preferences and high-value transfers. Larger firms place more focus on recipient verification.
- Automation plans reveal where progress may stall. Half of firms say greater automation would improve withdrawal and disbursement processing. Only 30% plan to make that upgrade within the next 12 months, creating the widest gap between a stated need and planned investment.
Download the report to see where investment platforms are making progress, where execution is falling behind and how faster payments can help firms serve investors more effectively.
About the Report
“The Power of Now: Moving Money at the Speed of Life: Investment Firms’ Payout Gap” is a PYMNTS Intelligence report produced in collaboration with Visa Direct. It is based on a survey of 120 U.S. investment platform executives with direct responsibility for payout and disbursement decisions. The survey was fielded from December 30, 2025, through January 26, 2026.
