Only a third of the US financial institutions have a strategy for faster payments, report said

The vast majority of American financial institutions are experiencing, or soon expect to experience, a demand for faster payments, according to a survey from the Center for Payments. Despite this, of the more than 700 FIs and third-party senders quizzed, only a third currently have a payments strategy in place to help set payment priorities, inform decision making and focus resources.

The Center for Payments™ announced the results of its first nationwide survey focusing on the current and future payments environment in the United States. Over 700 financial institutions and Third-Party Senders participated in the Future of Payments Study which examined payments strategy, as well as plans and interest in adopting new technologies such as faster payment solutions.

Study results indicate that financial institutions of all sizes need guidance with developing their payments strategy, timely information on faster payments, and insights to emerging faster payments solutions.

An overwhelming 85% of the organizations surveyed either currently experience a demand for faster payments or expect to experience demand in the next one to two years. Despite the projected demand for faster payment solutions, only 34% of respondents currently have a payments strategy in place to help set payment priorities, inform decision making and focus resources.

In addition, those surveyed feel challenged to keep up with the quick evolution in this industry. Generally speaking, respondents are unsure about their overall readiness for the faster payments evolution and 56% reported using multiple sources of information to drive their faster payments strategy. Only 3% relied solely on internal expertise when developing their faster payments strategy.

The survey results also indicated that core systems providers stand to lose market share to third-party vendors. Only 55% of the organizations responded are confident core-providers will provide the products necessary to respond to payments industry changes and 76% are willing to use a third-party vendor for additional products and services.

“These findings reinforce that U.S. financial institutions are quickly realizing that faster payments solutions are becoming mainstream and they are actively preparing for the opportunities and challenges these solutions present” says Bill Schoch, President & CEO at WesPay and inaugural chair of the Center for Payments. “Financial institutions are really marshalling internal and external resources to ensure an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach with their faster payments planning and execution. This is a role in which the payments associations are prepared to support our members.”

Payments professionals attending NACHA’s Smarter. Faster. PAYMENTS 2019 conference can learn more about the survey results tomorrow, May 7, 2019 at 9:50 a.m. ET during the Are Financial Institutions Prepared for Change? session in the Smarter, Faster Payments Zone or by visiting The Center for Payments in the NACHA exhibit hall (booth #513). An infographic and high-level survey results can also be found at www.centerforpayments.org. For complete survey results, organizations should contact their payments association. The Center for Payments plans to continue efforts of making actionable data needed to improve and grow payments capabilities available to their members.

About the Center for Payments
The Center for Payments is a cooperative program sponsored by 11 payments associations with the purpose of helping members and staff better prepare for the continued evolution in U.S. payment systems. Current participants in the program include ePayResources, EPCOR, MACHA, NEACH, PaymentsFirst, Shazam, Southern Financial Exchange, The Clearing House Payments Authority, UMACHA, WACHA and WesPay. These associations represent over 10,000 financial institution members, businesses and stakeholders with an interest in U.S. payment systems. www.centerforpayments.org