Faster payments

Following an antitrust review that lasted almost a year, the approval would appear to cement The Clearing House's status as the front-runner in a race to modernize the U.S. payments system.

International payments will only get more complex as faster payments take hold globally, steering banks and money movers to establish central hubs for handling cross-border transactions.

First Data Corp. is joining in the movement to provide speedy payments to participants in the gig economy of independent contractors by rolling out a debit-powered disbursement product.

As the U.S. continues to shape its faster payments options over the next few years, the connections for such systems have to be able to deliver more information and services with every payment.

International sourcing is stressing businesses that are already too reliant on paper-based payment methods, argues Hyperwallet's Tomas Likar.

The Federal Reserve task force and committees planning a faster payments system in the U.S. have had to juggle different viewpoints, philosophies and agendas, but they are laser-focused on a key aspect of the initiative: They don’t want to come back to the drawing board once a system is in place by the targeted year of 2020.

SourceMedia's PayThink conference is an annual gathering of key decision-makers in the financial services and payments industries. This year's event, which took place in Phoenix this September, brought several key ideas to light.

Faster processing can accommodate digital payment options in line with upcoming regulations and advancements in neighboring countries.

Same-day and real-time payment products are designed for basic transfers that don't meet the more complex needs of Lyft's ride-sharing service, contends Ashwin Raj, Lyft's vice president of payments.

A year after launching the same-day Automated Clearing House process for credit payments, Nacha says same-day ACH for debit payments began Friday.