Acceptance of Global Real-Time Payments Soars

The global demand for real-time payments continues to rise, with nations worldwide enhancing their digital financial systems to enable faster transactions for both consumers and businesses, according to PYMNTS.

The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has launched WAMD, a new instant payment system facilitating account-to-account transfers via phone numbers. Developed by FinTech K-Net and supervised by CBK, WAMD is rapidly being adopted by major financial institutions in Kuwait. This system aims to modernize the national payment infrastructure, offering a secure and advanced payment option, thereby accelerating the digital transformation of Kuwait’s financial sector.

ANZ has become the first major bank to perform a cross-border payment into the country in near real time. Using the New Payments Platform (NPP) through its Express Payments service, ANZ completed an inaugural transaction for BNP Paribas on July 2. This transaction demonstrated the bank’s capability to quickly settle inbound international Australian dollar payments to non-ANZ beneficiaries, thereby simplifying and speeding up payments while enhancing customer experience and cash flow.

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) has introduced its digital wallet and instant payment solution, Wero, in Germany. This development marks a significant step towards a unified European payment system. Initially available to customers of select banks, Wero enables rapid peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions via QR codes, email addresses, or phone numbers. The EPI, which includes 16 European banks and payment service providers, plans to extend Wero’s services to other European countries soon.

The Reserve Bank of India and several Southeast Asian countries are working together on Project Nexus, a multilateral initiative aimed at establishing a platform for instant cross-border retail payments by 2026. This project seeks to link the fast payment systems of India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, facilitating seamless P2P and retail transactions across borders.

“The Real-Time Payments World Map,” a collaboration with The Clearing House, explores the latest developments driving the rapid expansion of instant transactions worldwide.