Instant Payments: Credit Unions’ Expanded Frontier

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The interest in using instant payments, driven by both businesses and consumers, continues to accelerate, fueled by a growing expectation for immediacy and seamless user experiences. Just as consumers now anticipate near-instant access to digital content like streaming videos or downloaded files, they now expect payments to be equally swift and effortless. This global push for real-time payments is reshaping industries, enabling faster fund transfers, reducing cash reliance and improving business cash flow. As digital security advances, ensuring the security of these rapid transactions becomes paramount. With instant payments projected to experience a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 35% globally over the next six years, accounting for more than one-third of all payments by 2030, the need for robust anti-fraud solutions to safeguard financial security is more critical than ever.

Digital payments are reshaping consumer behavior, as evidenced by McKinsey’s State of consumer digital payments in 2024, which highlights a steady rise in digital payment adoption in both the U.S. and Europe. This year’s survey is the first to assess both regions, showing that consumers are not only using various digital payment methods more frequently but are also increasingly starting their buying journeys with these options. Platforms like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and offer marketplaces are examples where digital payments are the starting point of consumer decision-making, rather than merely a checkout tool.