January 04, 2026 Return to Briefing

Real-Time Payments as Competitive Moat

Real-Time Payments as Competitive Moat

1,000+ institutions live on RTP; 45% of transactions occur off-hours. Instant settlement is now a critical operational requirement.

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Signal Analysis: Real-Time Payments (RTP) Disruption

1. Specific Data Points & Statistics:

  • 289% forecast growth in RTP transaction values from 2023 to 2030.
  • 15% average quarterly growth in North American RTP volume since 2019.
  • 8 Billion monthly transactions handled by India's UPI system.
  • 78% YoY growth for Brazil's PIX, expected to hit 56% of all electronic payments by 2027.

2. Key Strategic Implications for 2026: Treasury teams must transition to a 24/7 liquidity management environment. Infrastructure modernization will focus on instant payroll and vendor payouts to maintain competitive agility.

3. Direct Quote & Technical Detail: "Real-time payments are transforming the future of payments by broadening the speed, innovation and efficiency of digital payments solutions." The technical backbone relies on ISO 20022 messaging standards to simplify complex reconciliation.

4. Spot Check Verification:

  • The FedNow Service was launched by the U.S. government for national RTP.
  • Brazil's PIX system officially launched in 2020.
  • Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision explicitly includes RTP infrastructure modernization.