Beyond Speed: The Strategic Value of Real-Time Payments

Real-time payments are often framed as a story about speed, but that lens increasingly undersells their business impact. As corporates gain experience with instant payments, the value proposition is shifting toward precision, control and improved user experience, paying exactly when needed rather than merely faster. Executives increasingly emphasize visibility and timing—not acceleration alone—as sources of competitive advantage. This Tracker explores how real-time payments deliver value beyond speed, improving customer experience, strengthening cash-flow management and unlocking greater certainty and confidence across business transactions.

Real-Time Payments Redefine Customer Experience

Cash-Flow Control Drives Business Value

Precision and Certainty Become the Differentiators

From Speed to Strategic Advantage

[branded_divider]

Real-Time Payments Redefine Customer Experience

Real-time payments are reshaping customer experience by eliminating uncertainty at moments that matter most. In industries such as insurance, instant payouts can fundamentally change how customers perceive service, particularly during crises, by delivering funds immediately rather than days or weeks later.

Both consumer and corporate adoption of real-time payments in the U.S. is gaining momentum.

In the United States, early momentum in instant payments was driven largely by consumer use cases such as digital wallets and peer-to-peer transfers. Corporates are now following a similar global pattern, typically lagging consumers by five to seven years. As corporate adoption accelerates, the focus is moving beyond raw speed and toward precision, delivering funds exactly when they matter most, especially in high-stakes situations.

48%

of financial institutions cite improved customer experience for their corporate clients as a key benefit of real-time payments.

The insurance industry provides a compelling illustration. Dr. Leo Lipis, CEO of payments strategy consulting firm Lipis Advisors, describes how instant payments can fundamentally change the claims experience. Instead of issuing a check that takes days to settle, an adjuster can approve and disburse funds in seconds during a customer interaction. This distinction has become especially visible during recent crises such as the California wildfires, where insurers offering instant payouts differentiated themselves from competitors tied to slower, paper-driven payout methods.

Consumer research reinforces the importance of timing. A 2025 survey from InvoiceCloud found that 27% of insurance claimants waited more than one week to receive payment, and only 10% were paid within hours to two days. While just 22% of respondents reported experiencing a payment delay, 40% identified payment timing as the top improvement they would make to the claims process, followed by 29% who would rectify inconsistent communication. In times of emergency, consumers gravitate toward fast digital options. Forty-nine percent cited online banking as the easiest way to access funds, while younger generations show a strong preference for mobile wallets.

Payment delays can spell the difference between positive and negative customer experiences.

According to J.D. Power, the average timeline for insurance claims—from first notice of loss to final payment—exceeded 44 days in 2025, the longest period since 2008. Claims completed within 10 days earned satisfaction scores of 762 out of 1,000, but scores fell to 595 when completion stretched beyond 31 days. Financial institutions (FIs) see similar dynamics among corporate clients: 48% of bankers identify improved customer experience as a top benefit of real-time payments.

Federal Reserve research further underscores customer emphasis on real-time payment options. Consumers cite 24/7 availability, simplicity and real-time notifications as leading reasons for using instant payments, and those who use them rate satisfaction with their FIs 8% higher.

[branded_divider]

Cash-Flow Control Drives Business Value

Beyond customer experience, real-time payments directly address one of the most persistent operational challenges businesses face: cash flow control. By delivering immediate settlement and real-time visibility into funds, instant payments improve working capital management, reduce liquidity risk and give organizations greater operational flexibility.

Working capital optimization is crucial for industries sensitive to cash flow.

47%

of bankers identify working capital optimization as a top benefit of real-time payments for corporate customers.

In sectors such as trucking, shipping and construction, delays in payment can interrupt operations entirely. The Clearing House noted in recent research that small trucking companies benefit from instant settlement through invoicing services connected to the RTP® network, which enable trucking firms to access funds immediately upon proof of delivery. Instead of waiting 30 to 60 days, drivers receive funds instantly, enabling them to refuel, pay labor and take on the next job without interruption.

More broadly, RedCompass Labs found that while speed is important, the deeper value of real-time payments lies in improved capital control. Among bankers, 47% identify working capital optimization as a top benefit of real-time payments for corporate customers. Immediate settlement gives businesses real-time visibility into cash positions, strengthening cash management, supplier relationships and overall operational efficiency. This visibility allows firms to reduce reliance on short-term credit and allocate capital more strategically.

Real-time payments deliver multiple cash-management benefits.

More than 30% of financial professionals report positive impacts from faster or real-time payments, including improved cash forecasting, simplified reconciliation processes and improved use of available funds. Faster settlement can also reduce days sales outstanding (DSO), enabling organizations to allocate capital with greater confidence.

Construction provides another striking example. A national study by Built found that 70% of general contractors and subcontractors regularly face payment delays, disrupting progress and driving up costs across projects. Yet contractors are ready to adopt faster solutions: 82% would embrace digital payment systems to accelerate cash flow, and 76% would offer discounts for guaranteed faster payments. As the federal government phases out paper checks to curb fraud and delays, capital-intensive sectors such as construction stand to benefit significantly from real-time payment adoption.

SMBs, in particular, need real-time cash flow visibility.

PYMNTS Intelligence research found that for small businesses, delayed customer payments can quickly cascade into missed payroll, strained vendor relationships or high-interest emergency borrowing. While tools for real-time cash visibility, such as cloud accounting and integrated banking feeds, are widely available, many small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) still rely on spreadsheets updated monthly instead of tools that provide continuous visibility into cash activity. The challenge is no longer technology but the willingness to adopt it. Without disciplined processes, businesses remain vulnerable. Real-time payments can reduce that risk by aligning cash inflows with real-time decision-making.

[branded_divider]

Precision and Certainty Become the Differentiators

As real-time payments become more widely adopted, precision and certainty are emerging as their most powerful differentiators. Immediate confirmation, transparent tracking and predictable settlement give businesses and financial institutions the confidence to transact without ambiguity or delay.

Certainty and precision are quickly becoming the most valuable features of real-time payments.

For businesses, immediate payment confirmation and precise payment tracking are major benefits of real-time payments. Predictability matters as much as speed, with 53% of bankers ranking increased payment certainty as the top benefit of real-time payments for their corporate clients. Immediate confirmation that funds have settled and cannot be reversed removes ambiguity from transactions. JPMorgan notes that unlike automated clearing house (ACH) payments, which can take days and remain subject to reversal, real-time payments settle within seconds, operate 24/7 and provide immediate confirmation to both sender and recipient.

53%

of bankers identify increased payment certainty as a benefit of real-time payments for corporate clients, making it the top advantage.

This certainty resonates strongly with corporate users. PYMNTS Intelligence research shows that among banks offering instant payments exclusively to business customers, 28% cite improved payment tracking as a major advantage—significantly higher than among FIs that also offer real-time payments to consumer clients. An additional 28% point to immediate confirmation as a key benefit. These findings reflect business customers’ heightened expectations for transparency and predictability.

Volanté, meanwhile, reports that 78% of FIs consider real-time payment confirmation and notification capabilities nonnegotiable. The figure indicates how pivotal immediate transaction updates have become, helping institutions curb payment-status inquiries and streamline the administrative work associated with tracking transactions.

Corporates are adopting real-time payments in record numbers to attain this payment precision.

The Clearing House reports that its RTP network recently processed more than 1.8 million transactions totaling $5.2 billion in a single day. The network accounts for 98% of U.S. instant payment volume. More than 1,000 banks and credit unions now participate in the network, which offers instant clearing, settlement and confirmation. As the RTP network competes with the Federal Reserve’s FedNow® Service, these milestones signal that real-time payments are becoming a standard expectation rather than a niche capability.

[branded_divider]

From Speed to Strategic Advantage

While speed may have sparked initial adoption, the long-term value of instant payments extends considerably beyond this benefit alone. As real-time payments become mainstream, competitive differentiation will depend less on sheer speed and more on how effectively organizations translate immediacy into precision, visibility and control. Organizations that reposition real-time payments as strategic infrastructure—rather than simply a faster rail—can unlock measurable gains in customer experience, cash flow control and operational confidence.

PYMNTS Intelligence offers the following actionable roadmap for companies advancing their real-time payment strategy:

Prioritize high-impact payment moments. Focus on use cases where timing and certainty directly influence outcomes, such as insurance claims, payroll, supplier settlements and emergency disbursements.

Integrate real-time payments into cash-management strategy. Use instant clearing, settlement and confirmation to improve liquidity visibility, forecasting accuracy and working capital discipline.

Build transparency into workflows. Embed confirmation, tracking and notification capabilities into operational systems to reduce ambiguity and limit status-related inquiries.

Align ownership across the enterprise. Coordinate product, treasury, operations and customer-facing teams to ensure that real-time payments support broader performance and experience objectives.

Organizations that move beyond speed and invest in certainty-driven payment strategies will be better positioned to operate confidently in an increasingly real-time economy.

Real-time payments are no longer just about speed—they’re about precision. Consumers and businesses can send or receive instant payments exactly when they want to, 24/7, along with immediate confirmation that provides full transaction transparency. Instant and final movement of funds provides the certainty to transact confidently, without ambiguity or delay.”

Jim Colassano
Senior Vice President, RTP Business Product Management, The Clearing House