Instant payment (sometimes referred to as real-time payment or faster payment) is a method of exchanging money and processing payments, allowing for almost immediate transfer of money between bank accounts, instead of the more typical one to three business days.
Many countries have implemented instant payment systems, and many instant payment systems and platforms are currently under development worldwide, due to increased need for faster and reliable transactions.
The
Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) define instant payments as:
Background
The growth of
e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...
has caused changes in people's spending patterns. Shopping is no longer confined to regular business hours, creating new challenges for funds transfers.
Similarly, merchants require faster and more reliable money transfer systems to keep up with consumers' demands.
Traditional electronic payments like simple
bank transfer
Wire transfer, bank transfer, or credit transfer, is a method of electronic funds transfer from one person or entity to another. A wire transfer can be made from one bank account to another bank account, or through a transfer of cash at a cash ...
s, that perform the
electronic funds transfer
Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems, without the direct intervention of b ...
within few business days, are not in line with user expectations.
It is predicted that, in the next year, instant payments will become the standard for electronic fund transfers, where customers will be able to digitally access their insurers and manage their funds.
Examples
See also
*
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#Intern ...
*
EBA Clearing
EBA Clearing is a provider of pan-European payment infrastructure wholly owned by shareholders that consist of major European banks.
It owns and operates major payment infrastructure in Europe for Euro payments between banks. This includes EURO1 ...
*
SWIFT
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIFT, ...
for
NPP
References
{{Reflist
Securities clearing and depository institutions
Payment networks
Payment systems