instant payments

New Data: Consumers Want Control and Choose Instant Payments To Get It

The State of Digital Disbursements: Why Consumers Prefer Instant Payments

Consumers receiving 25 or more disbursements annually are nearly four times as likely to pay for instant access to those funds. For high-frequency recipients, immediacy isn’t just a preference — it’s a priority that reshapes expectations across payroll, lending and income disbursements. PYMNTS Intelligence’s latest report, “The State of Digital Disbursements: Why Consumers Prefer Instant Payments,” a collaboration with Ingo Payments, details the growing adoption of instant disbursements.

Inside the April 2025 Playbook

  • 41%: Portion of U.S. consumers who say they use instant methods to receive disbursements most often, up from 11% in 2018.
  • 37%: Share of U.S. consumers receiving $500–$1,000 in income and earnings disbursements who are willing to pay a fee to receive the funds instantly
  • 89%: Share of U.S. consumers who most prefer push to debit as a destination for disbursements and who also prefer instant the most

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    Instant Payments Report