Real-time payments are more than just speed

February 4, 2021
Share

Real-time payments (RTP) are electronic payment solutions available 24/7, 365. RTP results in immediate or close to immediate interbank clearing of a transaction and crediting of a a payee’s account.
Real-time payments are fast, touchless and also facilitate better data and increased certainty of payment.

Better data

Real time payments systems allow for greater development of value-added services to be built within or on top of the infrastructure. In Australia, the real-time payments system is known as the New Payments Platform (NPP).
As the payments sector is evolving exponentially, data is becoming increasingly important. Real-time reporting and automatic reconciliation also facilitate more effective transfers.

The way payments data is collected, used and shared presents opportunities for financial institutions, payment service providers and their customers. Enhanced data has the potential to create new payments processes, business models and to also improve access for new entrants into the payments sector.

Enhanced data can also strengthen the detection of financial crime and strengthen consumer protections in financial services.

Payments data can be a mix of financial, transactional, behavioural and other types of data.

An enhanced data capability can enable recipients to see information relating to the purpose of the payment, tax and benefit information, a personalised message or underlying business transaction details.
One of the key drivers for instant payments and use of the ISO 20022 standard is the extended data carrying capabilities opened up by its implementation.

ISO 20022 allows for as much data to be included in a payment message. It also allows for the transmission of images, invoices and more.

Challenges

• Standardisation of data in the payments ecosystem. RTP systems are often built alongside existing legacy infrastructure. These rarely interoperate payments data is difficult to share across payment systems. Therefore, it can potentially be a challenge for banks to formulate a consistent customer data proposition across multiple payment systems
• Lack of market practice on data expectations e.g. how to handle unstructured data, storage duration, fraud and crime screening.
• What type of data should be permitted in payments systems. Accounting for any data that needs to be de/re-coupled e.g. non-payment related data
• Utilisation and monetisation. Managing data once it’s been collected
• Data governance. How the data is collected and by whom

International standards groups such as the ISO 20022 Real Time Payments Group have published best practice guidelines on how much data should be passed through a real-time payments system. But further market practice must be developed within each jurisdiction.

Increased payment security

Increasingly, markets are putting in place various solutions to ensure certainty of payment:

  1. In the UK, the payments industry is creating a Confirmation of Payee (CoP) service. This gives end users of payment systems, greater assurance that they are actually sending their payments to the intended recipient. The CoP is akin to an ‘account name checking service’ that can help avoid payments being misdirected due to manual errors.
  2. It can also address certain types of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, by introducing another hurdle for fraudsters. The CoP gives effective warnings to customers about the risks of sending funds to an account where the Payee names do not match.
  3. In the US, The Clearing House RTP system incorporates ‘Request for Information’ messaging. This allows for real-time information exchange between the biller and payer, similar to text messages.
  4. On SWIFT’s ‘Global Payment Initiative’ (GPI) platform, end-to-end payments tracking has been introduced. SWIFT GPI banks are able to instantly check the status of the payments sent, in progress and received alongside many different payment options.

Customer’s expect greater transparency when they send a payment, and real-time payments provide better data and better security. Real-time payments help businesses anywhere, anytime.

Get in contact with us.

Related Articles

How Launtel is Transforming Customer Experience with Instant Payments

Proudly Australian-owned and operated, Launtel is an internet service provider (ISP) headquartered in Launceston, Tasmania. Known for being Australia's fast and most flexible internet service provider, Launtel offers customers control over their internet service through the ability to and providing as many payment options as possible. Adam Poulton, CEO, Launtel, shares why they choose Monoova as their preferred payments partner, how the integration and onboarding experience has been, and how it's benefitted their customer experience.

How carsales and Monoova Are Revolutionising Car Payments in Australia

carsales, Australia’s #1 digital auto marketplace, partnered with Monoova, an Australia owned payments provider to launch their industry leading solution, 'Pay through carsales'. Nicholas van den Brink, Head of Product, New Ventures at CAR Group, shares how this new feature is transforming how Australians buy and sell vehicles online, making the process safer, simpler, and more efficient.

The payments revolution: How we will pay in the afterlife

Monoova CEO Christian Westerlind Wigstrom explores what happens after payments ‘die’ and move into the background. Like the Uber experience everywhere, all the time. However, progress needs to be made on four fronts in technology if payments are to fade away into the ‘afterlife’.

How Whitefox integrated real-time payments for LOOT's instant deposits using Monoova

Our Chief Commercial Officer, David Greene, shares his insights as a keynote speaker at the Future of Insurance Conference 2025 in Sydney. David highlights how insurers can leverage innovative payment technology to maintain competitiveness, boost efficiency, and improve customer experience. The Australian government’s modernisation of the payments system including the phasing out of BECS by 2030 will significantly impact insurers, particularly in operations, compliance, and customer expectations. David explores how Monoova's payment solutions can help insurers prepare for these changes and stay ahead of the curve.‍