The Real-Time Leap: Closing the Gap Between Receiving and Sending

The rapid rise of real-time payments is transforming the way consumers and businesses move money, offering unprecedented speed and convenience. Nevertheless, a significant disconnect remains: While most financial institutions (FIs) now support the ability to receive real-time payments, far fewer have enabled customers to send funds instantly. This imbalance limits the full potential of real-time networks and leaves customer expectations unmet.

Although The Clearing House’s RTP^® network has already passed the one-billion transaction mark, many banks have taken a tentative approach to participation, citing potential risks and lack of pricing as obstacles to enabling full-service real-time payments. However, experts are predicting that 2025’s instant momentum will require banks to take these payments to the next level — from receive-only mode to send-and-receive. As consumers and business clients increasingly demand real-time payments, banks will need to take the plunge into sending if they do not wish to lose to competitors that do. Adopting real-time bill pay and peer-to-peer (P2P) payment capabilities could substantially boost FIs’ sending functionality — along with opportunities for growth.

• The Sending Gap: Why Outbound Real-Time Payments Matter
• Overcoming Barriers to Sending Real-Time Payments
• Use Cases That Pay: Bill Pay and P2P
• Meeting the Real-Time Moment

The Sending Gap: Why Outbound Real-Time Payments Matter

Financial institutions in the United States are taking a cautious approach to real-time payments, with many choosing to limit implementation to receive-only capabilities. However, banks that do not implement sending alongside receiving could risk losing market share.

The vast majority of FIs are limiting their real-time payment rollouts to receive-only services.

This state of affairs reflects a risk-averse approach to real-time payments across the financial industry, prioritizing operational stability and gradual expansion. Driving this caution are the complexities of 24/7 payment systems and the challenge of monetizing new services. Legacy systems and technology costs remain significant roadblocks, with 88% of banks saying it is too expensive to implement sending capabilities.

Meanwhile, as demand and adoption soar, receive-only FIs risk falling behind the curve.

While many FIs hang back, real-time rails are soaring to new heights. The FedNow^® Service recently announced a transaction limit increase from $500,000 to $1 million, following the RTP network’s increase from $1 to $10 million in December 2024.

Usage of these rails has grown significantly since the beginning of 2025. In January, the RTP network surpassed 1 billion payments, just 18 months after hitting the 500-million mark — a rapid upshift versus the more than five years it took to reach the first half-billion. Average daily volume on RTP also rose sharply, from $909.2 million in January to $2.8 billion by mid-March 2025. FedNow has similarly experienced accelerated adoption, with projections suggesting continued rapid growth through the rest of 2025. This growth creates risks for FIs still developing their strategies. With 90% of real-time payment implementations scheduled within the next two years, banks that do not prioritize the sending function now could lose market share to those that do.

Overcoming Barriers to Sending Real-Time Payments

FIs’ most frequently reported reasons for not enabling real-time payment sending capabilities include integration complexity, the lack of pricing models, and costs.

Risk of data theft and lack of pricing models are FIs’ most important roadblocks to enabling real-time payment sending.

Fraud is a particularly thorny issue with faster-payment sending, according to another survey. With the burden of mitigation falling on sending institutions, it’s perhaps not surprising that fraud prevention was perceived as the top obstacle to implementing real-time payment sending, at 43%. However, the 2025 U.S. Faster Payments Barometer Report findings suggest this fear may be overstated, with only 3% of institutions reporting significant fraud from faster payments and many reporting none. This indicates that current security measures are largely succeeding, though ongoing vigilance remains necessary as the threat landscape evolves.

FIs can take measures to mitigate the threat of faster-payments fraud.

To combat fraud and minimize risks, FIs should concentrate on three core strategies. First, customer education is essential. FIs must prioritize teaching account holders about security best practices, such as using two-factor authentication. Customers should understand never to share credentials and how to distinguish legitimate FI communications from fraudulent ones, including which links and contact information are safe.

Second, FIs need to embed robust security features directly into payment experiences. This includes using one-time passwords and push notifications to verify payment requests, ensuring that every transaction is both secure and clearly communicated to all parties involved.

Finally, partnering with the right technology providers is crucial. FIs should select vendors offering strong fraud and risk controls. The right partner will help tailor controls to FIs’ unique needs, further strengthening their overall security posture.

Use Cases That Pay: Bill Pay and P2P

Adopting real-time bill pay, P2P payments and other use cases can help FIs maximize their return on investment in real-time sending.

Offering instant bill pay could make real-time sending capabilities pay off.

The RTP network can help FIs make the leap from receiving to sending real-time payments.

For members of real-time rails, the journey from receiving to sending can be as simple as flipping a switch. ABNB Federal Credit Union, for example, enabled real-time payments in receive-only mode initially when it joined the RTP network in 2024. However, with data showing that more than 60% of CU members were already sending payments to other institutions on the network, the CU soon expanded to offer send capabilities, including features like immediate bill pay and P2P transfers. Guidance from FinTech Alacriti helped the CU implement layered fraud mitigation, including biometrics and multifactor authentication. ABNB’s journey highlights how instant payments, enabled by strong partnerships and innovation, are now essential for meeting FI customer needs and staying competitive.

Meeting the Real-Time Moment

Bridging the divide between receiving and sending real-time payments starts with a strategic commitment to deliver on evolving customer needs. While integration costs and legacy systems may seem daunting, leveraging modern application programming interfaces (APIs) and cloud-based payment platforms can streamline adoption and minimize the need for expensive overhauls. As industry standards mature and vendor solutions become more robust, implementing real-time sending is increasingly efficient and cost-effective.

Banks can address concerns around pricing models by piloting new fee structures for high-value use cases such as instant account-to-account (A2A) transfers, expedited loan disbursements and real-time bill payments. These services not only provide added convenience for customers but also open up new revenue opportunities. Fraud risk, a top concern for many institutions, can be mitigated through advanced real-time monitoring and authentication protocols. By adopting these tools, banks can offer secure, seamless sending experiences that build customer loyalty and trust.

Ultimately, FIs that embrace the full potential of real-time payments—both receiving and sending—will be best positioned to enhance customer satisfaction, drive operational efficiency and maintain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving payments landscape.

As financial institutions, we’re continually moving to a more real-time environment as everyone wants to move their money from point A to point B in an instant. Making the jump from ‘receive’ to ‘send’ is going to allow you to be that much more prepared as instant rails become more prevalent.”