14% of Businesses Cite Reliability as Top Benefit of Real-Time Payments

Companies using real-time payments realize myriad benefits from tapping the method. 

Notable shares of executives from these companies identify the reduced risk of payment failure as the most important benefit for real-time payments, according to “Real-Time Payments,” a PYMNTS and The Clearing House collaboration based on a survey of 100 executives at companies with $50 million to $1 billion in annual revenue. 

Get the report: Real-Time Payments 

Among respondents, 14% said the mitigated risk of payment failure is the most important benefit of sending real-time payments, and 7% said that is the most important benefit of receiving real-time payments. 

In the case of sending real-time payments, the share of those citing it as the most important benefit is higher than those saying the same of any other benefit. In the case of receiving real-time payments, it’s the fifth most-cited benefit. 

Giving Businesses More Control 

For businesses looking to use The Clearing House’s RTP network for B2B payments, one of the major draws is that beyond its speed, it also gives businesses more control over the payment process, as Steve Ledford, senior vice president of products and strategy at The Clearing House, told PYMNTS in a November 2020 interview. 

Read more: The Clearing House: RTP Network Drives New Use Cases, Creates Value For SMBs This Holiday Season 

The ability to move money quickly — and to have both the payer and the payee know exactly when that transaction occurred — can be an important value-add for businesses that need to pay vendors quickly to minimize the risk of supply chain disruptions, Ledford said. RTP transactions also take away the credit risk associated with other methods of B2B payments. 

“It’s helping to both speed up payments and create more confidence and certainty in the B2B payment process,” Ledford said. 

Improving Management 

Companies that are using real-time payments and plan to upgrade their systems expect several benefits. For example, 44% of them expect to have a mitigated risk of payment failure once they introduce new features. 

Among the companies not using real-time payments, 18% also expect to benefit from mitigated risk of payment failure. 

The most forward-looking corporate accounting and finance departments recognize the benefits real-time payments offer in improving the management of cash flow, payables and receivables. 

Real-time payments can help companies recognize incoming and outgoing payments more quickly. Although the overall proportion of payments made in real time is still somewhat limited, companies that understand that the myriad benefits outweigh the costs and quickly adopt this payment method stand to reap the benefits this payment method offers and thrive.