Faster payments

The company’s payments services business has struggled during the pandemic, but executives are counting on commercial clients’ embrace of real-time payments to help fuel the unit’s growth in 2021.

Banks have borne the brunt of the criticism from consumers still waiting for coronavirus relief funds to land in their accounts. But the industry says the lag time is the fault of the government and its antiquated payments system

Building the processing tech was the easy part. Finding the right mix of users and transactions posed many challenges.

Building the processing tech was the easy part. Finding the right mix of users and transactions posed many challenges.

More people are joining the gig economy, and a major driver of this trend — particularly for those working multiple gigs — is a need for faster access to cash to meet expenses.

The COVID-19 pandemic led many locked-down consumers to stream or download more movies and video games, and this trend is leading to a rise in demand for faster data services such as 5G — a potential driver of payments innovation.

The U.K. got an earlier start on open banking implementations, prompting European merchants and fintechs to turn to payments-as-a-service providers for rapid deployment.

Retailers are often considered to be key beneficiaries of faster payments, but they may be among the last to reap its benefits in the U.S.

Instant payouts for gig workers have been gaining traction globally for the last five years, but Canada lacked many options until COVID-19 struck.

The central bank aims to roll out FedNow sometime in 2023, which is more optimistic than its previous timetable. The official leading the project noted progress in developing the infrastructure and its compatibility with private-sector solutions.