Huntington Now Offers Real-Time Payments For Consumers, SMBs

Regional bank holding company Huntington is now using the RTP network, meaning it now has a new real-time payments option to help people get money nearly instantly, according to a press release.

Through using the RTP network, the Columbus, Ohio-based company will be able to offer receipts and better communication options for payers and payees, including messaging, for both consumer and business customers, the release states.

RTP is offered through The Clearing House and is touted as the first new payments rail in the U.S. in the past 40 years, using mobile technology and digital commerce trends to provide efficient services.

Steve Ledford, senior vice president of Product Strategy and Development at The Clearing House, said in the release that customers in 2020 expect real-time services from banking like they expect from any other service, including shopping or streaming media.

“Huntington is meeting customers’ expectations for real-time payments, and we are excited that they have joined the real-time payments revolution,” Ledford said, according to the release.

Huntington is planning other enhancements to the real-time payments option that will increase the technological capabilities and further boost the process, the release states.

Adriana Hastings, director of Treasury Management with Huntington, said in the release that the company is “excited” to put out more innovations for customers.

“Real-time payments is a tremendous leap forward in meeting their needs for greater speed, security and efficiency in payments,” Hastings said. “Real-time credits are visible on any Huntington digital channel, including our Retail Online and Business Online platforms, our mobile app, as well as on monthly statements.”

According to a recent PYMNTS report, however, one of the main issues with real-time payments is how susceptible they can be to fraud. Due to the application programming interfaces (APIs) involved, fraudsters can possibly access the API code and bypass in-app authentication procedures.

In a PYMNTS interview, Nordea Bank said the need for real-time payments has also come with an urgency for equally quick security measures to help the payments flow smoothly and in a way that protects parties’ data and funds.