Real-Time Payments Are Changing How Business Is Done

Real-time transactions are taking the place of cash and even credit transactions, which soon might make those payment types as antiquated as cars made horse-drawn carriages.

Immediacy is the key, but as this new trend of “pay now” is taking consumers by storm, it’s forcing us to look at transactions in different ways. As real-time payments become more and more ubiquitous, each party in the payments chain will have to work hard to keep up.

Instant Gratification

By integrating payments into applications, hardware devices and mobile apps, payments can happen as fast as data travels the internet. This means the four basic steps intrinsic to traditional payments happen in the blink of an eye.

1. Authorization of payment is sent from the payer
2. Funds are made immediately available
3. An instant settlement between the payer and payee banks occurs
4. The payee is notified funds have been transferred

Just like cash, real-time payments offer the convenience of constantly updated funds, making a person’s bank account act more like their wallet than a separate place to store funds.

Moving Forward

In the United States, the consumer-end desire for real-time payments has started a push towards meeting instant transactions. Since mobile devices have the capability of interacting directly with businesses’ financial institutions, cash is becoming less important for finalizing sales.

As a result, there is a high demand for developing a payment ecosystem that can handle transactions quickly easily. Contact Paragon Payment Solutions today and learn how our payment processing platform is built to handle new technologies with ease.