Chesapeake Bank Joins The Clearing House’s RTP Network

Virginia’s Chesapeake Bank has joined The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payments (RTP) network, showing that smaller community banks have joined the new trend of enabling instantaneous payments and receipts for customers, a press release said. The move will also allow the bank to access advanced messaging capabilities.

DJ Seeterlin, chief information officer at Chesapeake Bank, said the new partnership would be a boon for customers looking for “new functionality” in their banking.

“Our customers need financial technology tools that align with their personal and business needs. Supporting real-time payments through the RTP network is an important step for us,” Seeterlin said in a statement. “We are proud to be an early adopter of the RTP network, which demonstrates our commitment to be at the forefront of technology and payments and allows Chesapeake Bank to continue to meet our customers’ needs now and in the future.”

The Clearing House’s RTP network is available for any federally insured U.S. banks or financial institutions (FIs) to use, and many institutions utilize it to implement new digital banking strategies to enable faster payments to customers. Settlements can be handled instantly and cash withdrawals can also become much easier when using the program, according to the press release.

The implementation of the RTP network has come amid the challenges of introducing new payment methods, as PYMNTS has reported. Many people are hesitant to use unfamiliar payment methods and are waiting to make sure they’ll be accepted at the places where they shop before getting on board.

According to Steve Ledford, Clearing House’s senior vice president of product strategy and development, particular focus was given to how smaller banks like Chesapeake would access the RTP network. As there are over 11,000 FIs in the U.S., many of them smaller or mid-sized, there are many different ways to connect, Ledford told PYMNTS in a recent interview. He said Clearing House had tried to attract a broad audience of banks to use its network.