We now live in a real-time economy, one in which consumers and businesses expect instant transactions and fulfillment of orders. Businesses increasingly demand that partners deliver services on shorter schedules or even instantly, such as cloud-based technology services. Similarly, consumers expect to be able to purchase goods or services with a click, or a swipe on a mobile device.

However, payments and billing often lag the actual purchase by hours, days, or even weeks, depending on the parties involved in the transaction. The delays in confirmed payments reduce working capital for businesses, increase financial uncertainty, and slow the efficient transfer of funds in the economy.

To help address these issues, the Federal Reserve convened its Faster Payments Task Force in 2015, which subsequently set 2020 as the target date that faster payments should be available to every consumer. To meet the needs of the real-time economy, The Clearing House and its owner banks are on track to launch Real-Time Payments (RTP) this quarter – the first new payments system in the United States in over 40 years. On the following pages, you will read five perspectives from constituents of the payments ecosystem – banks, a corporate user, and a consumer group – on Why RTP Matters for their own organizations, the U.S. economy, the financial system, businesses, and consumers.