Faster payments

The shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical workers is one of the most troublesome elements of the coronavirus outbreak, though prior work to declutter cross-border supply chain payments provides some hope.

PayPal is temporarily waiving fees for consumers using its app to accept government and payroll checks during the coronavirus pandemic.

With more people sheltering at home and grocery stores limiting access, Domino's is seeing a surge in demand for its pizza — and a need to pay delivery drivers their tips and wages after each shift at a time when the credit card orders outpace the cash on hand at each store.

As the market deals with the short-term challenge of getting stimulus payments into the hands of citizens, the country has a unique opportunity to put the unbanked and underbanked on a long-term path to electronic payment methods, Jim Johnson of FIS says.

Wall Street trading arms benefited from first-quarter volatility, but it may not be enough to salvage future earnings; “unprecedented volume” of customers logging into their online bank accounts creates system overload at many banks.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, it was becoming clear that the work of the past decade to establish the Single Euro Payment Area was paying off with real-time payments networks and opening possibilities for another European payments scheme.

The “hold” period has shrunk considerably, from 10 business days to typically now three, one or zero, making it harder to spot suspicious activity, says FICO's Liz Lasher.

The Fed plans to make its National Settlement System (NSS) more available. This will help Nacha broaden its settlement capabilities to new regions, writes Icon Solutions' Gene Neyer.

New features and improvements often take a back seat to security, says Entersekt's Claudius van der Meulen.

All financial institutions are now in the decision mode of being a "fast follower" and joining the Clearing House scheme, or being a "patient follower" and waiting for the Fed, writes Icon Solutions Gene Neyer.

Former Walmart payments executive Reed Luhtanen has been named the new executive director of the U.S. Faster Payments Council, an organization created a year ago to guide American faster payments initiatives.

Bankers cannot say that real-time doesn’t matter or that the status quo is fine, according to Neocova's Sultan Meghji and Kelsey Weaver.

The Fed can take steps now to speed up existing networks.

Companies that give employees early access to earned pay don't want to be lumped in with payday lenders, so they are putting a new spin on their pitch: It's a tool to lure and retain valuable workers.

Customer interaction platform Podium has added a Payments feature, allowing businesses to use text messaging to accept funds directly from customers.

For real-time payments, there are national schemes to help drive adoption and enhance consumer convenience, according to Standard Chartered's Tarek Elyafi and Shantanu Vijaykumar Bhosale

The Fed can take steps now to speed up existing networks.

Immediate payments through an existing payments platform means firms can pay quickly, satisfying the expectations of gig workers who are increasingly important to the company’s functions.

The central bank of Brazil will launch the Brazilian Instant Payments Scheme, or PIX, in November as the single brand for instant payment functionality.

Achieving the myriad business cash flow benefits from RTP is easier said than done, as global standards can conflict with local laws, rules, regulations and organizational culture, says Santander's Chris Bozek.