How much choice is too much choice? The second day of AFP in Nashville, Tennessee, featured BNY Mellon’s Sumner Francisco, Finzly’s Karuna Kathir, PTap Advisory’s Peter Tapling, and Walmart’s Sarah Arnio discussing the adoption and benefits of Faster Payments, as well as the distinctions between various payment rails such as instant payments, same-day ACH, and push-to-card transactions.
The panel emphasized that 75% of U.S. accounts are accessible via Faster Payments. While organizations like Walmart are capitalizing on this, challenges remain, particularly regarding the high costs compared to ACH, and a general lack of understanding of the benefits in terms of speed and efficiency. The speakers also touched on open banking and the ISO 20022 standards, which are crucial for enhanced data sharing and security. The session served as a call for corporations to investigate Faster Payments and collaborate more closely with their banking partners.
Francisco informed the audience that BNY Mellon was among the first organizations to execute a real-time payment in 2016 and initiated the first Request to Pay instruction. He stated, “Our position is to be at the forefront of these emerging payment types, including everything that’s considered Faster Payments.” However, he noted that many organizations remain disconnected from these advancements, which appears to be the status quo in the U.S.
To address the slow adoption of Faster Payments, Francisco posed questions about their applications and how the industry has traditionally approached payments. Kathir outlined three key reasons for the gradual uptake: first, the complexity introduced by multiple payment rails can overwhelm professionals, who focus on the end result—effective delivery of funds. Second, the limited accessibility of systems like Real-time Payments (RtP) and FedNow raises doubts about which accounts are compatible. Third, there is a significant need for education in this space.
Arnio added that “ubiquity is vital for a corporation.” She emphasized that for companies like Walmart to effectively implement these systems, they need access to a broader range of accounts—ideally reaching 95% of Americans. She described the situation as a tipping point, noting that most people cannot currently access Faster Payment networks. Reflecting on the technology adoption curve, she remarked that while there are early innovators, many are still in the “let’s wait and see” phase, slowly moving toward early adoption.