NEW REPORT: To Mandate Or Not To Mandate? That’s The US Faster Payments Question

Big changes are coming to the faster payments landscape. But don’t worry about blinking and missing them, because these changes are going to stick around for a while and have the potential to make a long-lasting impact on how money is exchanged.

The July PYMNTS.com Faster Payments Tracker, powered by NACHA, highlights notable developments from across the faster payments landscape, including the debut of Early Warning System’s Zelle Network and how P2P payments could soon be distributed using voice commands.

News from Around the World of Faster Payments:

The past few weeks saw several new players emerge into the P2P arena, bringing with them a host of new payment solutions.

One of the most long-awaited solutions was Early Warning System’s Zelle Network, which had its official launch last month and is enabling 86 million U.S. mobile banking consumers to use the platform’s P2P service. In addition to consumers, several financial institutions are looking into Zelle and how it can impact their own business operations. To assist FIs with their efforts to join Zelle, Early Warning is partnering with Fiserv to onboard a group of banks and credit unions that include Citizens Bank and SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union.

Zelle’s long-awaited debut has competitors, both new and established, eager to show off their own P2P offerings. On the established side, PayPal is preparing to compete with Zelle and recently launched its new “instant transfer” service that allows users to send money from their Venmo account to a Mastercard or Visa debit-card-supported bank account. And tech giant Apple also made its debut on the P2P stage by announcing a new feature with its iOS 11 upgrade that will allow users to send money using iOS Messages or through voice commands with the help of virtual assistant Siri.

Over in Europe, several companies are preparing the region’s banks for real-time payments. Financial software provider Finastra is partnering with payment infrastructure designer and provider SIA to help European banks connect to RT1, EBA CLEARING’s pan-European instant payment infrastructure. Meanwhile, ACI Worldwide and UP Immediate Payments are offering European banks a cloud-based solution to share connectivity to the RT1 scheme and reduce the costs of real-time operations and improve the time to market.

Does the U.S. Need a Faster Payments Mandate?

Back in the U.S., the Federal Reserve Faster Payments Task Force is scheduled to publish its recommendations for maintaining the U.S. faster payments system. But will the Faster Payments Task Force include a federally backed mandate in its recommendations? PYMNTS caught up with Roy DeCicco, managing director of corporate and investment banking at JPMorgan Chase and a Federal Reserve Faster Payments Task Force board member, who explained what makes the U.S. financial system “unique” and why a top-down mandate is not likely to be instituted any time soon.

Check out the July Faster Payments Tracker, powered by NACHA, to read the feature story, along with a roundup of all the latest news and trends from around the faster payments space.

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TO DOWNLOAD THE JULY EDITION OF THE PYMNTS.COM FASTER PAYMENTS TRACKER, powered by NACHA, CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW.

About the Tracker

The PYMNTS.com Faster Payments Tracker, powered by NACHA, is your go-to resource for staying up to date on a month-by-month basis. The Tracker highlights the contribution of different stakeholders, including institutions and technology coming together to make this happen.

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