Pushing the Limits: US Instant Payments in 2025
Demand is soaring, limits are rising, volumes are expected to grow. But – there are still challenges ahead. We spoke to 300 senior payment professionals to get their take.
A year is a long time in payments.
Not long ago, the big question was how two instant payment schemes would work side by side in the US. Would the Real-time Payments Network (RTP) outpace FedNow? Or would FedNow emerge as the better option? Should banks commit to one, both — or wait it out?
And if they did move forward, what then? Updating legacy systems is no small task. Interchange fees remain a major revenue stream — what would happen to the card business? Where’s the business case? What about fraud?
Today, the conversation has shifted. Demand for instant payments is rising. Transaction volumes are climbing. More banks are enabling send capabilities and removing internal roadblocks. We are at an inflection point.
Our latest research shows strong support for instant payments among corporate and retail customers — and growing expectations for banks to deliver. Smart upgrades to both RTP and FedNow are making the schemes more attractive to businesses. Banks are starting to move past concerns about cannibalizing revenue. Many now see instant payments as a way to strengthen — not threaten — the bottom line.
But there’s still a long way to go. The US is said to lag countries like India and Brazil, world leaders in instant payments. In Europe, where SEPA Instant has been around for years, cash remains common for many person-to-person and point-of-sale transactions. The EU recently introduced the SEPA Instant Payments Regulation to accelerate adoption. In the US, the new administration has expressed a desire to eliminate cheques altogether in a push to modernize payments. Clearly, more needs to be done.
If infrastructure alone were enough, instant payments would already be ubiquitous. Most Americans would be able to send money instantly, at little or no cost, to anyone, anywhere. Buskers and gig workers would get paid on the spot. Multinationals and mom-and-pop stores alike would pay suppliers and staff in real time — strengthening relationships and improving retention.
But we’re not there yet — because instant payments adoption isn’t just about technology. It’s about behavior change.
Fully interoperable real-time payments are no longer a distant vision. The foundations are being laid now. And if momentum continues, as AI helps to speed up modernization, we could see far broader enablement in the very near future.
We’re living through a payments revolution — one that’s already reshaping the global financial system.
At RedCompass Labs, we’re excited to be supporting our clients on this journey. We look forward to supporting US banks through this exciting period of payment innovation.
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Written by
David Patrick
Head of Payments Strategy, RedCompass Labs
