Ready For Real-Time Payments

Real-time payments are quickly becoming a reality in more banks, companies, and payments networks. In May, TreviPay CEO Brandon Spear told PYMNTS that “we’re getting to a point where real-time payments are going to become commonplace.”

Leading finance and treasury practitioners and advisors have since echoed Brandon’s take on the topic. “More and more countries and businesses are rolling out use cases for real-time payments,” according to a new Treasury & Risk article. “Banks and startups alike are investing a lot of time and money [into] rethinking payments services and infrastructure, in an effort to improve the efficiency and speed of the network,” Corning Inc. Director of Liquidity and Investment Management Stephen Fowler notes in the article. “Real-time payments offer companies the opportunity to process and receive payments ‘just in time’ and outside of normal payment windows, potentially driving savings on the float.”

As the use and refinement of real-time payments evolve, finance and treasury leaders should understand and mitigate payments-related risks while getting enablers in place to take advantage of the valuable opportunities associated with faster, efficient payment settlements.

Some of those fintech startups that Fowler mentions are now leveraging real-time payments to offer new A/R, A/P, and payment offerings. These services and capabilities include:

• Real-time on-boarding;
• Credit risk management;
• Real-time authorization of payments across all sales channels and customer sizes;
• Global invoice and receivables management;
• Outsourced working capital management;
• Fraud prevention; and
• Regulatory compliance.

B2B companies of all sizes are also working with external partners to set up (or join) a range of payment and invoice networks that meet their unique needs.

Through TreviPay’s work with finance, treasury, and payment groups, we see B2B companies deploying payments and invoicing networks to:

• Sell direct to end customers;
• Scale existing B2B businesses;
• Automate invoicing and credit management;
• Notch major DSO improvements;
• Add invoicing and payments capabilities to an eCommerce or eMarketplace;
• Enter new geographies; and
• Expand e-commerce channels.

Optimizing real-time payment options and services – including the FedNow Service scheduled to launch in the U.S. next year —  requires B2B organizations to get in place a robust treasury management system with connections to the SWIFT network. It’s also crucial to have banking partners that support the move to more real-time payments.

For a more comprehensive look at payments innovation, see the new TreviPay eBook, B2B Treasury Transformation and Post-Pandemic Payments Innovation.