Fiserv to Add Popmoney Instant P2P Payments to Mobile in November

Fiserv will expand Instant Payments to the mobile version of its Popmoney person-to-person payment system in November.

Since acquiring Popmoney as part of its 2011 acquisition of CashEdge, Fiserv has worked to reduce the lag time in person-to-person payments by processing transactions across debit networks instead of routing them through the Automated Clearing House.

Initially, the debit networks were used only to withdraw money from the sender's account, with the recipient's deposit happening via ACH. Then in April, Fiserv launched Popmoney Instant Payments to members of the Fiserv's Accel network or First Data's Star Network, including PNC Bank.

Fiserv demonstrated the desktop-based version of Popmoney Instant Payments at the FinovateFall conference this week in New York. During the company's presentation, Andrew Barnett, Fiserv's senior mobile solutions consultant, and Neil Platt, a senior vice president and general manager of payments, conducted a transaction on the Popmoney website, sending $15 from Barnett's checking account to Platt's email address.

"It's very common to see a notification in real time when a payment is sent, but is the money really there?" Barnett asked.

After Platt received an automated email alert, the money was deposited in near real-time into his checking account at a bank that supports the service.

As more consumers demand P2P from their banks, the race to offer instant payments on desktops, as well as on mobile, has heated up among vendors, with Fiserv, FIS and others acquiring mobile app development companies. Meanwhile, banks like PNC and Citi are becoming more comfortable with P2P payments and embracing new features of the technologies.