RTP Network Reports 15% Growth per Quarter Since 2019

The Clearing House’s RTP® Network has seen growth in both transaction volume and value in 19 out of the last 20 quarters, dating back to 2019.

Both metrics are growing 15% per quarter, on average, The Clearing House said in a Thursday (April 4) press release.

“RTP transaction volume is driven by customers who want instant, convenient ways to pay bills, move money between accounts, get paid quickly, send money to friends and family, or solve cash flow concerns,” The Clearing House Chief Product Officer Margaret Weichert said in the release.

The needs of customers of financial institutions to move money and make payments quickly are driving the network’s organic volume growth, according to the release.

Consumers commonly use RTP to move money instantly between accounts, such as when opening new accounts, covering unexpected expenses or paying bills, the release said.

Small businesses often use the network to get immediate access to funds through merchant settlement providers, per the release. For these users, instant payments help with normalizing cash flow, paying employees, purchasing additional inventory and paying for unexpected expenses.

Introduced in 2017, the RTP Network supports the immediate clearing and settlement of payments and the exchange of related payment information across the same channel, according to the release.

During the most recent quarter, RTP saw volume of 76.4 million and value of $42.3 billion, both of which were new records for the network, per the release.

“Banks and credit unions yet to join the RTP Network should consider the valuable benefits they can offer their customers and members either directly or indirectly through service providers since, once on the network, they will have access to record transaction flows on day one,” Weichert said in the release.

PYMNTS Intelligence found that demand for faster, streamlined transactions is fueling the expansion of real-time payments worldwide. For example, real-time rails support 60% to 70% of B2B transactions in the United States, according to “The Real-Time Payments World Map.”

Solutions like early wage access are also contributing to the increasing use of instant payment rails.