9 in 10 Real Estate Firms Bet Big on Real-Time Payments

Real estate firms have historically run on paper — but that may be about to change.

Real estate firms are weighing the benefits of adopting digital payments methods such as cryptocurrency, virtual cards and push payments. Among all the innovations these firms are considering, however, there is one payments technology that firms are beginning to see as uniquely beneficial: real-time payments.

“Corporate Changes in Payment Practices: A Deep Dive Into the Real Estate Industry,” a PYMNTS and The Clearing House collaboration, details the key reasons why many real estate firms are poised to adopt real-time payments. We surveyed 125 real estate executives across the U.S. to learn more about their interest in several key payments innovations, including real-time payments, and how that interest is shaping their short-term investment strategies.

Key findings from our research include the following:

Real estate firms are committed to adopting real-time payments in the immediate future.

We find that 90% of real estate firms plan to begin receiving real-time payments in the next year, and 77% plan to begin making real-time payments in the next year. This is significantly more than the shares saying they will adopt other innovative payment methods.

Ease of use is driving real estate firms’ interest in real-time payments.

Ease of use is among the top reasons real estate executives cite when asked about their interest in adopting real-time payments. Eighty-one percent of real estate firms cite ease of use as a reason to start making real-time payments and 63% cite it as a reason for receiving them. The report details other factors driving real estate firms’ interest in real-time payments.

Although many firms express interest in using cryptocurrency and virtual cards for speed, real-time payments present a more attractive option.

Transaction speed is one of the top reasons real estate firms cite when asked about their interest in different payment methods. While 60% of real estate firms cite transaction speed as a reason to use cryptocurrency and 52% cite speed for virtual cards, 81% of these firms say transaction speed is a reason to make real-time payments.

These are only a few top-level findings unearthed during our research. “Corporate Changes In Payment Practices: A Deep Dive Into The Real Estate Industry” details real estate firms’ increasing interest in real-time payments, cryptocurrency and virtual card innovations.

Download the report to learn more about how the real-estate payments ecosystem is poised to evolve in the near future.