For most digital enterprises, payments have traditionally been viewed as a backend utility—necessary to keep operations running but far from strategic. Today, that view is outdated. The rise of alternative payment methods, real-time payments, and embedded financial technology has flipped the script. Payments are no longer just a cost center; they’re a powerful lever for growth.
Imagine offering your customers not just speed but entirely new capabilities: instant supplier payments, automated reconciliation, and premium services that create new revenue streams. Yet, most platforms aren’t fully leveraging the potential of real-time payments. Why? Building and maintaining financial infrastructure is complex, integration feels daunting, and the ROI isn’t always obvious—until now.
This guide explores how real-time payments, when embedded strategically into your platform, can solve operational challenges, unlock revenue opportunities, and position your business as a market leader. Whether you’re considering integration or refining your existing setup, this is your roadmap to rethinking what payments can do for your platform.
What Are Real-Time Payments?
Real-time payments are exactly that. It is a system that enables funds to be transferred between accounts instantly, with recipients gaining access within seconds—any time, any day. These instant payments eliminate the friction and delays around ACH transfers, wires, and cheques.
In the U.S., two systems support real-time payment capabilities:
The Clearing House RTP® Network
FedNow® Service
Unlike legacy systems, real-time payment methods do more than speed up payments—it’s a foundation for smarter financial operations. For software platforms, it’s the opportunity to redefine what payments can achieve for their users.
Why Embed Real-Time Payment Capabilities
Real-time payments are more than just a payment feature. By integrating RTP alongside other payment options like ACH, credit cards, and cross-border payments, your platform can meet and exceed the expectations of your users. The true value of embedded payment technology lies in creating a comprehensive financial ecosystem.Â
Here’s how embedding financial technology, with real-time payments as a core capability, transforms your platform and benefits your users:
Strengthen Your Platform’s Core Offering
Platform Benefit: Financial technology allows your platform to process payments from any source, including real-time transactions. This lets you offer high-demand features like instant payouts, supplier payments, and refunds, making your software indispensable.
User Benefit: Businesses gain the flexibility to choose payment methods that fit their needs, whether it’s instant access to funds through RTP or cost-effective options like ACH.
Simplify Operations
Platform Benefit: Embedded financial technology consolidates payment processes and removes the friction of managing multiple systems. It introduces automation, offloads compliance, and allows you to focus on higher-value tasks.
User Benefit: Businesses experience smoother, faster workflows that eliminate delays and inefficiencies caused by outdated payment systems.
Gain a Competitive Edge
Platform Benefit: Integrating RTP within a broader financial technology suite positions your platform as a forward-thinking solution. It ensures your software stays relevant and meets evolving market demands.
User Benefit: Businesses using your platform can leverage real-time payments to meet rising customer expectations for speed, transparency, and reliability, keeping them ahead of their competition.
Turn Payments Into a Revenue Stream
Platform Benefit: Real-time payments open the door to premium services like same-day payouts and time-sensitive transfers. By monetizing these features, your platform transforms payments from a cost center into a revenue generator.
User Benefit: Businesses gain access to customizable premium payment options, improving their cash flow while aligning with critical operational priorities.
Why Real-Time Payments Are Critical
Real-time payments are the cornerstone of embedded financial technology, solving pressing challenges while enabling new opportunities. By offering RTP alongside traditional and alternative payment methods, your platform becomes a strategic partner for businesses navigating complex financial ecosystems. The result? Simplified operations, increased customer retention, and a clear path to growth.
Key Considerations for Integrating RTP
Real-time payments can unlock significant value for software platforms, but successful integration requires careful planning. Here’s what to prioritize:
Infrastructure and APIs
For Your Platform: Partner with a payment provider offering robust APIs that reduce the technical complexity of RTP integration. Ensure the solution is flexible and scalable to support future growth in transaction volumes and user adoption.
Why This Matters: A scalable solution ensures your platform remains adaptable as payment needs evolve, avoiding costly overhauls down the line.
Compliance and Security
For Your Platform: Meet regulatory requirements such as AML/KYC compliance, fraud prevention, and data security standards. Choose a provider with built-in risk management tools to minimize your operational and legal exposure.
Why This Matters: Integrated compliance features reduce the burden on your team, allowing you to focus on enhancing your platform’s core offerings.
Customer Use Cases
For Your Platform: Understand the most relevant RTP use cases for your customer base, such as payroll, supplier payments, or loan payouts. Tailor your solutions to address industry-specific needs in verticals like real estate, insurance, and lending.
Why This Matters: Aligning RTP features with customer priorities increases your platform’s adoption and value proposition.
Cost and ROI
For Your Platform: Evaluate the costs associated with RTP integration, including upfront implementation and ongoing transaction fees. Quantify the potential ROI by examining how RTP can improve customer retention, reduce payment delays, and generate new revenue streams.
Why This Matters: Understanding ROI helps justify the investment in RTP while identifying monetization opportunities for your platform.
Education and Support
For Your Platform: Equip your team and customers with the resources needed to adopt RTP effectively. Offer training materials, FAQs, and direct support to address concerns and optimize implementation.
Why This Matters: Providing strong support ensures a smoother rollout and increases user satisfaction, building trust in your platform.
Key Use Cases for RTP
Payroll & Employee Payments
For Your Platform: Offer businesses the ability to pay employees—including gig workers and contractors—instantly.
Example: A food delivery platform uses RTP to ensure drivers access earnings immediately after completing a shift.
Why This Matters: Features like these increase the stickiness of your platform, attracting businesses with time-sensitive payment needs.
Supplier Payments
For Your Platform: Help businesses eliminate supply chain delays by enabling real-time payments to vendors.
Example: A manufacturer uses RTP to send payments immediately to raw material suppliers, avoiding production delays.
Why This Matters: These capabilities position your platform as an indispensable part of your customers’ operations.
Customer Refunds & Insurance Disbursements
For Your Platform: Enable businesses to issue refunds or payouts quickly, improving their customer loyalty.
Example: An insurance company processes claims in real-time, ensuring policyholders receive funds immediately after approval.
Why This Matters: By supporting faster refunds, your platform becomes a critical tool for businesses that value customer satisfaction.
Loan Disbursements
For Your Platform: Let lenders disburse approved loans instantly, reducing wait times for borrowers.
Example: A fintech lender uses RTP to deposit funds into borrowers’ accounts seconds after approval.
Why This Matters: Offering RTP for loans makes your platform a top choice for financial institutions seeking speed and efficiency.
Healthcare Payments
For Your Platform: Streamline payments to patients or service providers, reducing administrative friction.
Example: A clinic uses RTP to reimburse patients instantly for overpaid medical expenses.
Why This Matters: Healthcare organizations rely on platforms that simplify payment workflows, making RTP a key differentiator.
The Current State: Adoption and Trends
Real-time payments have gained significant traction across various industries, with impressive adoption rates and transaction growth:
Corporate Uptake: Over50% of U.S. companies have implemented real-time payment systems to improve cash flow and streamline operations.
Transaction Volumes: In 2023, the U.S. processed approximately 3.5 billion real-time transactions, a 25% increase from the previous year. Projections suggest this number will reach 14 billion by 2028.
Market Reach: The RTP Network currently connects to 70% of U.S. demand deposit accounts (DDAs), with financial institutions holding nearly 90% of DDAs technically ready to support RTP.
These figures demonstrate the growing reliance on real-time payments for enhanced operational efficiency and improved user experiences.
How the U.S. Compares Globally
While the U.S. ranks 11th globally in total real-time payment transactions, it lags in per capita adoption, placing 35th worldwide. This disparity highlights the opportunity for growth as more businesses and software platforms integrate RTP.
The Future of Real-Time Payments
By 2028, RTP is expected to represent5% of the total payments mix in the U.S., up from around 1% in 2023. This shift underscores the growing importance of adopting real-time payments to stay competitive in an evolving financial landscape.
What About Canada’s Real-Time Rail?
Canada is preparing to join the real-time payments landscape with the upcoming launch of its Real-Time Rail (RTR), led by Payments Canada. This system will offer features similar to the U.S.’s RTP Network and FedNow, including instant payment processing, 24/7 availability, and enhanced cash flow management. However, the rollout timeline and infrastructure readiness may vary.
For software platforms operating in both the U.S. and Canada, this is a critical moment to ensure your payment systems are flexible and scalable. Adapting now to support evolving payment ecosystems will position your platform as a future-ready solution capable of handling real-time payments across borders.
How VoPay Can Help
Integrating real-time payments doesn’t have to be difficult. Our Payment-as-a-Service provides software companies with an efficient, scalable solution to embed modern payment capabilities through a single API. VoPay offers multiple real time payment solutions including VoPay Instant, RTP, FedNow and more, to suit various use cases.Â
Our technology goes beyond payment integration by managing the entire money movement process—from compliance and risk management to operational scaling. By partnering with us, you can position your platform to stay competitive, attract more customers, and unlock new revenue streams.
