At Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments conference in New Orleans, payments leaders explored the momentum behind real-time payments while emphasizing that traditional rails—like wire transfers, ACH, and even cheques—continue to hold critical relevance in the evolving financial ecosystem.
The business case for instant payments was a recurring theme, with speakers noting how use cases—from payroll to disbursements—are expanding. Bridget Hall, leader of real-time payments at ACI Worldwide, pointed to tax returns as a novel and growing application. “It’s not necessarily about paying taxes faster,” she said, “but making sure you’re paying on time.”
Melissa Ashley, president/CEO of Corporate One Federal Credit Union, stressed that implementation is not just a technology upgrade but a first-time process for many credit unions. “It’s about making sure all teams—operations, accounting, IT, and compliance—know what to do.”
Jim Colassano, SVP of product development at The Clearing House, highlighted the power of real-time user experience. “When I send money to my brokerage and see it arrive two seconds later, no one needs to explain the back end. That’s the kind of experience that banks need to deliver.”
Mark Ranta, senior manager at EY, dispelled the myth that instant payments are a massive, multi-year initiative. “It’s no longer an 18- to 36-month journey. We’re talking weeks or months now. The industry is simply more agile.”
Still, a panel later in the day reminded attendees that traditional payment rails are far from obsolete. Wire transfers, ACH, and even cheques are all being modernized to improve resilience, transparency, and speed.
Allison Shonerd, managing director at Bank of America, welcomed the Fed’s move to extend net settlement services into the weekend, suggesting it opens the door to more 24/7 capabilities. However, she warned of operational challenges in areas like fraud detection and sanctions processing that may not yet be fully equipped to operate continuously.
From an ACH standpoint, Devon Marsh of Nacha explained that the idea of a fourth same-day processing window had been considered but ultimately deferred due to concerns over settlement risk—especially on late Fridays and weekends.
Tony Gerevics of JPMorgan Chase wrapped the discussion with a crucial reminder: payment method choice still matters. “Cash is the original instant payment,” he said. “Held during crises, it settles immediately and offers unmatched certainty. We haven’t retired a payment rail yet—and we shouldn’t plan to.”