IT’S

PRIME TIME FOR

REAL-TIME ®
2024
Real-time payments adoption and growth around the globe
 Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 4

Executive Summary........................................................................................................................... 6
Key Findings at a Glance................................................................................................................. 7
Markets Leading in Real-Time Payments Adoption.............................................................. 8
Regional Markets................................................................................................................................ 9

Global Real-Time Payments Adoption ........................................................................ 10

Africa...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Asia Pacific........................................................................................................................................... 11
Europe.................................................................................................................................................. 12
Latin America...................................................................................................................................... 13
Middle East.......................................................................................................................................... 13
North America.................................................................................................................................... 13

2
Market Deep Dives
Brazil...................................................................................................................................................... 14
India....................................................................................................................................................... 18
Indonesia............................................................................................................................................ 22
Malaysia.............................................................................................................................................. 26
Netherlands....................................................................................................................................... 30

Country Insights by Region

Africa.................................................................................................................................................... 34
Asia Pacific......................................................................................................................................... 42
Europe................................................................................................................................................. 64
Latin America................................................................................................................................... 104
Middle East........................................................................................................................................ 114
North America................................................................................................................................. 122

3
 IT’S
PRIME TIME FOR Introduction
REAL-TIME ®
Across the world, real-time payments are solving
real-world challenges. Real-time payments are faster,
fruit, resulting in wider domestic reach and exciting
new use cases.
cheaper, and more accessible and convenient — they • Merchants and consumers are now embracing real-
reduce costs and improve liquidity for businesses and time payments through apps, QR codes and mobile
help banks achieve greater efficiency. wallets.
• Countries with the most to gain — those with large
Governments and regulators in both mature and populations, cash economies, low use of credit and
rapidly developing markets are now actively poor inclusion — have led the way in establishing
championing real-time payments as a proven catalyst real-time payments for daily use.
for economic benefit, using them to drive financial • The next big real-time frontier will be seizing the
inclusion and better transparency. opportunities created by international trade and
migrations to build new real-time remittance and
®
ACI’s annual Prime Time for Real-Time report, now in cross-border payment corridors.
its fifth edition, provides valuable insight into real-
time payments’ progress in 51 countries. It provides Globally, financial institutions are using real-time to
an accurate benchmark that helps shape strategies, re-examine payments infrastructure
stimulate innovation and encourage stakeholders to Institutional leaders concerned about how to
raise their real-time game. modernize complex systems and processes that were
built up over decades now see real-time payments as
This year’s findings reveal markets moving to a route to more efficient and lower-cost transactions
maturity as 2023 reaches a record-breaking high — delivering commercial advantages for business
Real-time payments accounted for 266.2 billion customers and better engaging consumers.
transactions globally in 2023, a year-over-year growth
of 42.2%. This shift toward more sustainable growth Banking strategies and mindsets have become
levels is as expected as countries move beyond early more open and cooperative, and there is now a real
adoption — typified by extreme growth — to maturity. hunger in the market to learn from the successes and
experiences of other countries and to expand real-
This year’s findings reveal: time ecosystems to fintechs and other commercial
• The power of collaboration between governments, players.
regulators, banks and fintechs is finally bearing

4
Markets where real-time is mainstream have Financial institutions will have to work more closely As part of real-time’s evolution, the industry continues
knowledge to share with fintechs and digital wallet providers to power to make progress in the battle against payments fraud.
In this year’s report, for the first time, we have the rich overlay services that fuel frequent use by Generative AI is changing the nature and scale of
included deep-dive analyses into five of the world’s enabling differentiated customer experiences across attacks, and real-time is rising to the challenge with
most successful real-time payment markets — India, numerous payment channels. consumer rights, education programs and government
Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Netherlands — interventions, combined with new AI-based anti-fraud
highlighting what it takes to build thriving end-to-end, For late entrants and slow adopters in vanguard technology and processes. ACI plans to cover this
real-time payment ecosystems. markets, it’s time to rethink where real-time payments topic in detail in a separate real-time fraud report in
sit in the customer journey and the end-to-end early 2025.
The success of real-time brands like India’s UPI and payments landscape.
Brazil’s PIX shows that consumers and merchants are Real-time payments are now a real-world reality
ready to take advantage of real-time benefits — faster Opportunities to evolve and grow This year’s report confirms that real-time payments
settlement, lower risk than cash and better liquidity For financial institutions looking to monetize real-time are now an integral part of the global payments mix,
than cards. payments, the next big opportunity will be connecting and as more markets go mainstream, they should now
multiple real-time schemes to create new corridors. be acknowledged as a cornerstone for all strategies
Closing the gap to real-time ubiquity 2023 witnessed a host of bilateral agreements in Latin targeting financial inclusion and economic gain.
In every corner of the world, real-time payments are America and Asia as neighboring countries began to
now in regular use — moving value at scale and at create real-time, cross-border rails for QR-code and We hope this report provides the continued impetus
low cost. In 2023, just under one-fifth of all electronic P2P payments. G20 initiatives, EU Instant Payments needed for real-time modernization across the world,
payments globally were real-time, and by 2028, it will mandates and the Nexus blueprint will help drive this which will give financial institutions, corporations,
be more than one-quarter. in 2024 and beyond. merchants and consumers access to faster, cheaper
and all-around better payments.
Widespread acceptance is paramount for individual Real-time payments are destined to play a more
real-time payment schemes and for the market to prominent role in government economic growth
maintain its forward trajectory. Removing or reducing initiatives by boosting access to and use of electronic
merchant discount rate fees and launching QR code- payments — and freeing the billions of dollars globally
based and mobile use cases are among the most that are locked in clearance daily. ACI will publish
powerful adoption boosters. the second edition of its Economic Impact Report Debbie Guerra
in collaboration with the Centre for Economics and Chief Product Officer
Business Research later this year. ACI Worldwide

5
Executive Summary
Real-time prevalence is the new reality

It’s been a record-breaking year for real-time Success factors

Strong Merchant Incentives
payments. With regulatory frameworks being In those countries that have developed thriving real-
Merchant adoption and uptake are crucial for
established, and the demand for real-time payments time payment ecosystems, five common drivers have
real-time payments growth and ubiquity. India’s
increasing, collaborative ecosystems have emerged emerged:
government, for example, removed merchant
to drive powerful use cases that revolutionize
discount rates and issued all merchants QR
businesses and enhance daily lives. Active Collaboration
codes for UPI acceptance, actively incentivizing
Whether by government mandate or industry
merchants of all sizes to accept UPI payments.
Adoption is being driven by pent-up demand for low- consensus, real-time payment systems thrive
cost, convenient and accessible electronic payments, through active collaboration. Financial institutions,
the need for more modern and efficient infrastructure, payment service providers, central banks and
Constant Flow of User-Friendly Use Cases
and a desire to boost economic performance. Mobile government institutions, merchants and third-party
Real-time payments thrive in countries where
wallets and QR codes are providing fast entry points, stakeholders must work together to build and
innovative use cases have found mass adoption
connecting consumers to real-time payment rails operate successful real-time payment ecosystems.
by consumers or businesses. Whether utility or tax
domestically and internationally. Across the world,
bills, transport tickets or road tolls, subscription
real-time has thrown open the door to economic,
Open and Inclusive Payment Ecosystems payments or the weekly grocery shop, consumers
competitive and operational advantage, and
Fintechs and smaller banks play an increasingly in successful markets are now paying in real time
stakeholders are ready to reap the rewards.
significant role in the real-time payment via QR codes, mobile apps or online accounts.
ecosystems of the world’s leading markets. Larger
banks will need to reevaluate strategies and
Cross-Border Ambition
forge new partnerships with fintechs to remain
Efforts to extend real-time to cross-border
competitive and to drive transaction volume and
payments are finally paying off, and Asian
value at scale.
countries are leading the way. Payments using
India’s popular UPI scheme can now be made in
Malaysia, Indonesia, UAE and France, and users
of Malaysia’s DuitNow can now make QR-code
real-time payments from Indonesia, Singapore,
Thailand and China.

6
Key Findings at a Glance

In 2023, real-time payment transactions climbed to a new New use cases are fueling popularity and securing a larger
record high share of transactions — by 2028, one in four transactions will
be real-time
Global real-time payment transactions in 2023
In 2023, real-time payments accounted for 19.1%
266.2B of all electronic transactions globally. By 2028, this will
YoY growth of 42.2% rise to 27.1%

Real-time payments growth shifts to a sustainable level as Global Real-Time Payments Volume and Its Share
in Overall Payments, 2016-2028f
vanguard adopters reach maturity
700,000 30%

600,000 Volume of Real-Time Payment Transactions

Global real-time payment transactions forecast for 2028 CAGR 2023-2028
25%

500,000

575.1B 16.7% 20%

2023-2028 400,000
15%
300,000
CAGR 16.7% 10%
200,000

100,000 5%

0 0%
There is a strong correlation between real-time payments 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

growth and mobile wallet adoption Global Real-Time Payments Transaction Volume
Global Real-Time Payments Share in Overall Electronic Payments

Percentage of consumers that used

mobile wallets in 2023

91% 90% 87%

India Indonesia Malaysia

7
Markets Leading in Real-Time Payments Adoption

The Top Five Real-Time Markets by Volume PIX has taken Brazil’s real-time payments from
standstill to sky high
Number of Real-Time Payment Year-on-Year Growth (Volume of
Rank Country
Transactions, 2023 Real-Time Payments) 2022-2023

2
India

Brazil
129.3B

37.4B
44.6%

77.9%
37.4B 2022-2023

real-time payment transactions in 2023

3 Thailand 20.4B 37.5%
YoY growth rate of 77.9%
4 China 17.2B 3.8%

5 South Korea 9.1B 11.4%

Countries at the start of their real-time journey typically show
the highest growth forecast
India dominates the global real-time payments space
Top six growth markets (by volume), CAGR 2023-2028

129.3B 110.3% 97.1% 94.9%

real-time payment transactions in 2023 Ireland Croatia Egypt

84% of all India’s electronic

transactions are real-time 65.5% 53.8% 52.1%
Pakistan Portugal Peru

8
Regional Markets

Asia Pacific is the largest The Middle East is the fastest- North America is a major Latin American countries are
regional market, with four of growing real-time payments growth market to watch — pushing ahead with real-time
the global top five real-time market globally primarily due to the launch of payments modernization
payment markets by volume the FedNow® Service in the initiatives, looking to replicate
Transactions expected U.S. in 2023 Brazil’s success
to rise from
185.8B Projected 2023-2028 CAGR Peru and Colombia are
transactions in 2023 855M to 3B 27.1% predicted to have the highest
by 2028 2023-2028 CAGRs in the
Real-time payments represent 2023-2028 CAGR 28.8% region, with

24% of all Africa had the highest real- 51.2% and

electronic payments In Europe, the new EU time share of electronic
Instant Payments Regulation payments in 2023 at 40%, 42.6% , respectively
is expected to drive instant with Nigeria as the real-time
351.5B payments volume across the payments leader in the region
The 2024 Prime Time for Real-
real-time transactions 27 EU member states
Time report tracks real-time
by 2028 The region recorded
payment volumes and growth
2023-2028 CAGR 13.6% Instant payments are forecast
to account for 8.2B forecasts across 51 countries.

real-time transactions in 2023

13% of all electronic
Modern economies and
financial organizations are
payments in Europe in 2028 2028f real-time transactions reaping the rewards now.
— up from 8% in 2023
21.7B Real-time payments are on
track to become the dominant
force in the global payments
ecosystem.

9
Global Real-Time Payments Adoption

Live
Live*
Planned*
No scheme in place*
*Not included in report

10
Africa
Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year
Egypt IPN Live 2022 Morocco No scheme in place Planned* -
Ethiopia EATS Live* 2011 Nigeria NIP Live 2011
Ghana GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIP) Live* 2007 South Africa RTC Live 2006

Kenya PesaLink Live 2017 PayShap Live 2023

Tanzania Tanzania Instant Payments System (TIPS) Live* 2019

Asia Pacific
Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year
Australia New Payments Platform (NPP) Live 2018 New Zealand No scheme in place Planned* -
Cambodia Real-Time Fund Transfer (RFT) Live* 2019 Pakistan Raast Live 2021
China IBPS Live 2010 Philippines InstaPay Live 2018
Hong Kong Faster Payment System (FPS) Live 2018 Singapore FAST Live 2024
(Special Administrative
Region)
PayNow Live 2017
India IMPS Live 2010
South Korea CD/ATM Live 1988
UPI Live 2016
Electronic Banking System (EBS) Live 2001
Indonesia BI-FAST Live 2021
Sri Lanka CEFTS (LankPay) Live 2015
Japan Zengin System Live 1973
Taiwan Financial XML Live 2003
Kazakhstan ISMT Planned* 2025
Malaysia DuitNow Live 2018 Interbank ATM funds transfer system Live 1987
Thailand PromptPay Live 2016
Interbank Funds Transfer (IBFT) Live 2006
Myanmar No scheme in place Planned* - Vietnam NAPAS Quick Money Transfer Service Live* 2016

11
Europe
Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year
Austria SCT Inst Live 2017 Netherlands SCT Inst Live 2017
Azerbaijan IPS Live* 2020 Norway Straksbetalinger Live 2011
Belgium SCT Inst Live 2019
Vipps Live 2015
Bulgaria Borica Instant Payments Live* 2021
Poland Express Elixir Live 2012
Croatia NKSInst Live 2020
Czech Republic CERTIS Live 2018 BlueCash Live 2012

Denmark Straksclearing Live 2014 Portugal SCT Inst Live 2018

Estonia SCT Inst Live* 2014 Romania Plati Instant Live* 2005
Finland Siirto Live 2017 Russia FPS Live* 2019

SCT Inst Live 2018 Serbia IPS Live* 2018

France SCT Inst Live 2018 Slovakia SCT Inst Live* 2022
Germany SCT Inst Live 2017 Slovenia Flik Live* 2020
Greece IRIS Live 2017 Spain SCT Inst Live 2017
Hungary Azonnali fizetési rendszer (AFR) Live 2020 Bizum Live 2016
Iceland CBI Live* 2020 Sweden BIR Live 2012
Ireland SCT Inst (not formally launched) Live 2020 Switzerland TWINT Live 2016
Italy SCT Inst Live 2017 Turkey Retail Payment System (RPS) Live 2012
Latvia EKS Zibmaksajums Live* 2017 FAST Live 2021
Lithuania CENTROlink Live* 2017 U.K. Faster Payments Service Live 2008
Luxembourg BILnet Live* 2020 Ukraine TBD Planned* -

12
Latin America
Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year
Argentina DEBIN Live 2017 Colombia Transfiya Live 2019

PEI Live 2016 Honduras SIP Live* 2008

Mexico SEPI Live 2004

Transfers 3.0 Live 2020
Brazil SITRAF Live 2002 Peru Immediate Interbank Transfers Live 2016

Uraguay ACH Transferencias Inmediatas Live* 2021

PIX Live 2020
Chile TEF Live 2008 Venezuela LBTR Planned* -

Middle East
Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year
Bahrain Fawri+ Live 2015 Oman MPCSS Live 2017
Iran No scheme in place - - Qatar QMP Live* 2020
Israel No scheme in place - - Saudi Arabia sarie Live 2021
Kuwait NBK Quick Pay Live* 2018 UAE Immediate Payment Instructions (IPI) Live 2019
Lebanon Zaky Live* 2020

North America
Country Real-Time Payment Method Status Year
Canada Interac e-Transfer Live 2022
U.S. RTP and Zelle Live 2017

FedNow® Service Live 2023

13
Brazil

Market Deep Dive

Brazil: Accelerating instant from zero to hero
In just three years, PIX has taken Brazil’s real-time payments from 2023 Real-Time
standstill to sky high. Now the world’s second largest real-time
payments market after India, it owes much of its success to central
Transactions
bank regulation and a fintech-rich ecosystem which has seen no-
fee P2P payments soar. With a constant flow of new merchant use
cases, PIX is making headway in tackling real-time fraud, and its next
37.4B
steps are building a better UX to drive in-store use and migrating
2022-2023
more services onto real-time rails.
Real-Time
Brazil makes up 75% of Latin America’s real-time payments market and Payments Growth

77.9%
14% of the global instant payments market by volume of transactions.
Its primary real-time payments system PIX enables instant account-to-
account payments, 24/7 — via an alias, banking account details or by
scanning a QR code — and is supported by 800 licensed financial and
payment institutions. 2023 Real-Time
Share of Electronic
Fast-tracking financial digitization and inclusion
Payments
PIX was launched in November 2020 as part of the Banco Central
do Brasil’s (BCB) mission to drive financial inclusion by decentralizing
financial services and increasing competition. 36.2%
Today, PIX has more than 150 million1 active users. Full integration into 2028f Real-Time
popular payment wallets and existing bank-based systems has made it
the country’s “go-to” payment method. In 2023, it expedited more than
Transactions
37 billion transactions and now represents more than 36% of Brazil’s
electronic payments. 115.8B
Through PIX, the BCB has fostered an open and collaborative
2023-2028 CAGR
ecosystem for banks and fintechs and a steady stream of well-
structured and supported PIX use cases that have rapidly
democratized real-time payments. 25.4%
14
 Region: Latin America

Brazil’s mobile-first consumers can now open bank accounts fully digitally, making Forecasts indicate in-store value will grow by 36.3% CAGR from US$283 billion in
PIX widely available for peer-to-peer (P2P), bill, retail and eCommerce payments. As 2023 to US$1.331 trillion in 2028.
a result, real-time transactions are projected to achieve a 25.4% CAGR from 2023 to
2028. Real-Time Payments by Type, 2023/2028 Comparison

Ubiquity powered by a collaborative but controlled ecosystem 2023 2028 CAGR

PIX is owned by the BCB, which maintains strong ecosystem governance and Real-Time Payments Real-Time Payments (2023-
control. PIX is mandated for all financial institutions with more than 500,000 Transaction Value Transaction Value 2028)
(USD) (USD)
accounts and allows voluntary participation (with conditions) for all other payment
service providers (PSP). Bill Payments 9.1B 20.8B 18.1%

In-Store Payments 283.0B 1.3T 36.3%

This has fostered a strong relationship between fintechs and banks. The BCB
maintains standards, preventing risk and creating a healthy and robust ecosystem Online Payments 23.0B 40.7B 11.5%
for instant payments and new use cases to flourish. Stakeholders can participate Others (e.g., P2P) 3.6T 9.3T 20.8%
in PIX Business and Technical groups to actively shape PIX evolution and new use
cases. Total 3.9T 10.7T 22.1%

US$3.946 trillion annually now flows through PIX Popular use cases driving momentum
No fees, instant availability of funds and easy access via mobile have made PIX When it launched PIX, the BCB promised a steady flow of new use cases. Today, its
more popular than card payments. Its transaction volumes are now more than twice diverse offerings touch every demographic, in every part of the country.
that of credit and debit cards2 (Q2 2023), and transaction values are two-and-a-half
times higher (Q1 2023)3. 77% of the population uses PIX P2P, the debut offering which today still accounts for
more than 50% of instant payments. While free for consumers, charges can be made
The vast majority (92%) of Brazil’s real-time value comes from P2P payments, which for businesses. Even so, for small and micro-businesses like taxi drivers and street
totaled US$3.630 trillion in 2023. vendors, it is typically cheaper and more reliable than using wireless card machines.

In-store spending accounts for just 7% of Brazil’s total real-time transaction value. 64% of Brazilians with a smartphone now access PIX Billing (PIX Cobrança)
Uptake may be dampened by the PIX point-of-sale experience, which can’t yet for instant bill payment via embedded QR codes, and 1.3 million monthly cash
compete with the one-tap convenience of contactless cards. Plans to improve this withdrawals valued at approximately US$64.5 million (December 2023)4 now flow
with NFC, Bluetooth, RFID and facial recognition should remove this barrier. through PIX Withdraw and PIX Change (PIX Saque and PIX Troco).

15
Plenty of scope for future growth
The launch of Automatic PIX (PIX Automático) in October 2024 will revolutionize Brazil’s success demonstrates that scaling instant payments from
recurring payments and enable Brazilians to use PIX for streaming services, bill inception to widespread adoption is achievable within a short timeframe.
pay, news portals and subscription clubs. It highlights the importance of an actively engaged central bank prepared
to champion open ecosystems and actively involves financial institutions
The BCB also plans to introduce PIX Guaranteed and PIX Credit to compete and merchants in the evolution of customer experiences and use cases.
with buy now pay later (BNPL) and point-of-sale (POS) financing. Fostering more While challenges like fraud persist, collective efforts ultimately lead to
high-value applications for merchants — online and in-store — will allow financial more effective solutions and faster results.
institutions to earn comparable revenues to credit products while settling payments
instantly. Key Takeaways

With its ambitious roadmap, the BCB aims to move many more existing use cases • Brazil is the world’s #2 largest instant payments market
to PIX, including smart contracts and PIX International for cross-border payments. Processing more than 37 billion instant transactions, it accounts for 14%
Additionally, PIX will serve as a real-time payments rail for Brazil’s planned digital of global and 75% of South and Central America’s real-time volumes.
currency Drex.
• Real-time ubiquity in just three years
A collective commitment to tackling fraud 77% of Brazilians now use the PIX real-time platform, and more than
However, it’s not all good news. As in other markets, instant payments have led to a third (36%) of ePayments are instant. Success is a testament to the
faster ways to commit fraud. Street robberies have been a particular challenge for central bank’s proactive approach in working with fintechs to power new
Brazil. customer experiences.

The BCB is championing some strong responses. It has established a working • Five-year growth is steadying to 25.4% CAGR (2023-2028)
group of banks, fintechs and other industry players to develop more stringent Instant payments growth has been boosted by evolving functionality
countermeasures. Initiatives like PIX velocity checks and a PIX Precautionary (NFC, Bluetooth, RFID and facial recognition), new merchant use cases
Block — which sends an alert and freezes transactions for 72 hours to enable and the opening of cross-border rails. While challenges like fraud persist,
investigation — are already live. Work is also underway on a process to speed up collective efforts are ultimately leading to more effective solutions, and
the return of payer funds upon confirmation of fraud or institutional failure. faster results.

16
India

Market Deep Dive

India: Taking a nation from cash to clicks
The world’s largest real-time player, India has sought to empower 2023 Real-Time
merchants and consumers to reduce their reliance on cash. Initiatives
from no-fee accounts and digital IDs to pervasive QR codes and
Transactions
mobile wallets have paved the way for UPI real-time payments and
made them ubiquitous in daily life. The next steps will be helping
banks and fintechs to monetize services and rolling out low-cost, real-
129.3B
time corridors for remittances to capture higher-value payments.
2022-2023
India dominates the global real-time payments space, with almost 130 Real-Time
billion real-time payments made in 2023. To put this in context, that’s Payments Growth

44.6%
more than the rest of the world’s top 10 real-time payment markets
combined and 49% of total global real-time transactions.

UPI has made India the world’s #1 real-time payments

market 2023 Real-Time
India’s real-time journey began with the launch of Immediate Payment Share of Electronic
Service in 2010, but the game changer was the introduction of the
Payments
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in April 2016, which enabled real-time
payments using QR codes, mobile numbers and virtual IDs.

UPI was developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

84%
— established by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks 2028f Real-Time
Association. Thanks to demonetization mandates and opening the
system to non-bank players, it is now accessible across 500 banks.
Transactions

UPI’s ubiquitous reach has made it the first choice for Indian
consumers and businesses for payments in all contexts in the country.
248B
Consequently, the volume of real-time payments jumped 44.6%
2023-2028 CAGR
from 2022 to 2023 and now constitutes 84% of India’s electronic
transactions.
13.9%
18
 Region: Asia Pacific

An end-to-end approach to real-time inclusion Real-Time Payments by Type, 2023/2028 Comparison

India’s remarkable UPI adoption levels reflect a wider concerted effort by the Indian
government to transition the economy from cash-based transactions to electronic
2023 2028 CAGR
payments. Real-Time Payments Real-Time Payments (2023-
Transaction Value Transaction Value 2028)
Central to this is the “JAM” trinity — Jan Dhan no-frills, zero-fee accounts, Aadhaar (USD) (USD)
digital IDs and smart mobile phones — which laid the foundation for UPI by bringing Bill Payments 104.6B 240.9B 18.1%
direct beneficiary transfers and financial access to all citizens.
In-Store Payments 1.1T 3.7T 27.6%

Today, UPI and real-time payments account for more than half (53.4%) of India’s Online Payments 18.7B 46.2B 19.7%
transactions. As consumers increasingly shift from cash- to mobile-based real-time
Others (e.g., P2P) 1.9T 2.9T 9.2%
payments, this is anticipated to reach 69% by 2028.
Total 3.1T 6.9T 17.4%
P2P achieved US$1.872 trillion in real-time transactions, but in-store
is the one to watch A fintech-rich ecosystem drives real-time overlay services, apps and
P2P payments garner the largest slice of India’s transaction value (61%) — a large digital wallets
proportion of these are person-to-small merchant payments. By giving “payments bank” regulatory status to fintechs, India has made its
ecosystem highly cooperative. With a high-volume, data-rich, digital payments
At 35% — equivalent to US$1.091 trillion — its in-store share is significantly higher environment and innovative solution providers like Mindgate Solutions, ACI’s
than in all other markets. With a CAGR of 27.6% from 2023 to 2028, its growth will regional partner, India now produces a wide choice of real-time digital overlays.
also outpace India’s other real-time channels.
In the past seven years, RBI has built out QR-code payments and Request to Pay at
Success in both of these areas can be attributed to the government removing scale. Digital wallets and PSP services integrate UPI via APIs to create mobile-based
merchant discount rate (MDR) for UPI payments and issuing every merchant with a P2P, P2B and B2P use cases for merchants, government (payouts and collections),
QR code for UPI acceptance. This has incentivized merchants of all sizes, down to transport, health and education.
even the smallest street vendors, to accept real-time payments.
Fintech apps now initiate more than 95% of UPI transactions, and 91% of Indians use
While bill and online real-time payment values are substantially lower than P2P or a mobile wallet, giving them an easy way to access real-time payments. According
in-store, the gap is likely to close as businesses and retailers become increasingly to NPCI data, PhonePe accounts for 46% of UPI transaction volumes, Google Pay
digitized. From 2023 to 2028, the CAGRs for bill payments (18.1%) and online (19.7%) accounts for 36% and Paytm accounts for 13% (October 2023).
are forecast to be double that of P2P (9.2%).

19
New use cases broaden UPI reach and extend merchant opportunity But even bigger than this is India’s US$125 billion inbound remittance market. UPI-
Recognizing that not all Indians have a smart phone, UPI 123PAY now lets the PayNow, launched in January 2024, has created a new remittance corridor with
country’s 400 million feature phone users access real-time payments. Singapore. There are many more such initiatives in the pipeline, covering North
America, Asia and the Middle East.
Real-time subscriptions can be set up using UPI Autopay for recurring payments up
to INR 2,000. Credit cards can also link to UPI, enabling acceptance at merchants
that do not have POS terminals (although MDR charges may apply). State-backed UPI shows that public-private digital financial inclusion
efforts can bear fruit when implemented as part of an end-to-end
To reduce pressure on banking infrastructure that has seen a tenfold increase solution. With 1.5 billion people and the world’s fifth largest economy,
in real-time transaction volumes in just two years, the NPCI introduced UPI Lite. India has plenty of scope for growth. The challenges lie in the last mile
Allowing offline processing for transactions below INR 200, it utilizes a refillable and driving inclusion deeper — overcoming infrastructure, literacy and
“on-device stored value” of up to INR 2,000. Consumers can even make UPI location issues — to make India a truly real-time nation.
payments where there is no connectivity — in elevators, basements or on flights —
using UPI-Lite X. Key Takeaways

Setting UPI’s sights on higher values and cross-border expansion • India dominates the global stage
Although real-time payments account for 53.4% of India’s electronic transaction With almost 130 billion real-time transactions, it represents 49% of the
volume, it only captures 10.3% of electronic transaction value. This shows that world’s total volume, making it the undisputed #1 instant payments
real-time payments in India are used for everyday transactions by a wide swathe market.
of the population, instead of exclusively for large P2P transfers, bill payments or
corporate transfers, as is the case in many other markets. • Truly a real-time nation
State-backed UPI shows that public-private digital financial inclusion
To address this, the RBI has raised the UPI transaction limit for hospitals and efforts bear fruit when end-to-end initiatives embrace merchants
educational institutions from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh and is proposing a four-hour and consumers. 84% of all India’s ePayments and 53.4% of its total
window when users can cancel or amend first-time payments over INR 2,000 to transactions are now real-time.
new recipients.
• Long-term growth is stabilizing at 13.9% CAGR (2023-2028)
Recently, India’s popular RuPay card was enabled for UPI transactions, and the RBI With 1.5 billion people and the world’s fifth largest economy, there’s
is also working on UPI-ATMs to support cash withdrawals without a physical card still scope for growth. The challenge lies in driving inclusion deeper —
using dynamically generated QR codes. overcoming infrastructure, literacy and location issues.

Cross-border payments are a major opportunity for value growth. Countries like
France, UAE, Malaysia and Indonesia already accept UPI, with more countries
rolling it out.

20
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
53.4 69.0 10.3 17.0 100%
85.6% 86.2% 86.3% 86.5% 86.5%
90% 81.3% 84.0%
80% 74.6%
70% 63.8%
85.5 79.9 60%
52.2%
10.2 50%
37.4%
40%
10.8
30%
36.4 20.2 4.2 3.1 20%
17.0%
6.6%
10% 4.6%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Real-Time Payments Launch Initiation/Authorization Methods Mobile Wallet Trends

2010 3 Bank Account Mobile

90.8%
% of adults who have a
Real-Time Payment Schemes QR Code
mobile wallet and have used
it in the past year (2023)
2010 – IMPS Real-Time Acceptance
2016 – UPI
Scheme Messaging
4 Banks Merchants

ISO 8583 P2P Billers

21
Indonesia

Market Deep Dive

Indonesia: Late bloomer now leapfrogging ahead
Indonesia’s BI-FAST is one of the world’s largest and most modernized 2023 Real-Time
real-time payment initiatives. It incorporates 135 banks, multi-
tenant aggregators, non-bank participants. With no legacy burden
Transactions
to overcome, it has leapfrogged to ISO 20022, creating a diverse,
universally reachable real-time ecosystem that accelerates widescale
adoption.
1.9B
2022-2023
Indonesia launched its first real-time payments system BI-FAST — owned
and regulated by Bank Indonesia — in December 2021. As a late entrant, Real-Time
it learned from other countries’ real-time journeys and, with ACI’s support, Payments Growth

267%
was live in a record less than nine months.

Indonesia is now ranked as #8 in the world’s top 10 fastest-growing real-

time payment markets, with almost 2 billion real-time payment transactions
in 2023 and a CAGR of 44.6% (2023-2028). 2023 Real-Time
Share of Electronic
The country has also sprinted ahead of more mature neighbors to become
Payments
#3 in Asia Pacific for real-time payments volume, share and growth. By
2028, it is expected that real-time payments will account for 13.1% of all
transactions in Indonesia. 11%
Indonesia’s lack of legacy infrastructure proved an 2028f Real-Time
advantage in a predominantly cash economy
Indonesia has leapfrogged typical digital evolution paths and moved
Transactions
straight to ISO 20022, enabling it to provide innovative real-time
payment services — including cross-border payments — at an early
stage.
12.2B
2023-2028 CAGR
ISO 20022 messaging provides more efficient payment processing,
supports real-time gross settlement, and offers opportunities for
analytics to build better use cases and experiences. The result is 44.6%
22
 Region: Asia Pacific

universal real-time reachability and the fast-paced innovation that is propelling real- the costs, fees and risks associated with handling cash.
time payments’ adoption.
Indonesia’s drive towards digital payments aligns with regional trends. Most of
Connecting 135 banks, BI-FAST now provides a harmonized national real-time Indonesia’s real-time payments are credit transfers, proxy payments and online
payments platform that delivers infrastructure efficiency and use cases such as real- payments. The QR Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), which provides a single QR
time bulk credit, direct debit and Request to Pay services. code for retail and all eWallets, will soon be leveraged to accelerate the adoption of
BI-FAST among consumers and businesses. BI-FAST and QRIS are expected to drive
A major engine for modernization widespread acceptance and usage, making digital payments more accessible and
BI-FAST is an integral part of Indonesia’s ongoing digital modernization initiative and convenient in Indonesia.
central to the government’s Payment System Blueprint called IPS 2025, which aims to
transform the country’s payments infrastructure and integrate its digital economy and QR codes linked to mobile wallets are central to widening adoption. According to a
finance sector. 2023 consumer survey from GlobalData, 89.8% of Indonesians own a mobile wallet,
and their use grew by 29.6% between 2022 and 2023. Looking ahead, this will
BI-FAST also responds to public demands for a fast, easy, safe, affordable and reliable increase at a CAGR of 12.5% from 2023 to 2028.
payments system. With BI-FAST, funds are immediately transferred from one bank to
another using the recipient’s account details, mobile number or email address. Real-time value is strong — and growing
In Indonesia, real-time payments are primarily used for P2P and P2B payments. The
Recent developments mean that Indonesians can now initiate cost-efficient, cross- maximum value for BI-FAST transactions is IDR 250 million.
border payments to and from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and India — with more on
the horizon. Continued expansion of international payment corridors is a priority given Real-Time Payments by Type, 2023/2028 Comparison
Indonesia’s role as the powerhouse of the Southeast Asian economy.
2023 2028 CAGR
Real-Time Payments Real-Time Payments (2023-
End-to-end benefits in a challenging environment
Transaction Value Transaction Value 2028)
As an archipelago, Indonesia has many geographical challenges. The country is large (USD) (USD)
and fragmented and has multiple ways consumers can pay for goods and services
Bill Payments 22.2B 108.6B 37.4%
online and offline. Consolidation is already underway to unify disparate services onto
In-Store Payments 13.4B 32.2B 19.2%
the Bank Indonesia’s BI-FAST infrastructure.
Online Payments 11.1B 19.9B 12.5%
BI-FAST is also strengthening the resilience of the national retail payments system by Others (e.g., P2P) 308.4B 2.1T 46.4%
offering enhanced fraud detection features. Merchants, participants and individuals Total 355.0B 2.2T 44.4%
(P2P) now have a secure path into real-time payments and can free themselves from

23
P2P and P2B payments represented 87% of Indonesia’s real-time payments value in
2023 and are on track to achieve 46.4% CAGR in value over the next five years, rising Just two years into its real-time journey and Indonesia proves that with
from more than US$308 billion to US$2.070 trillion. the right technology, partners and central support, the benefits of real-
time payments can make an impact in a short period. Bank Indonesia
The second-largest value generator was bill payments, accounting for 4% of real-time can support its rapidly growing economy and provide its citizens, small
payments transaction value. With a five-year CAGR of 37.4%, it is also the next big enterprises and larger businesses a platform for financial inclusion and
growth opportunity and is expected to increase from US$22 million in 2023 to more innovation. The growing integration with neighboring economies will
than US$108 million in 2028. facilitate better trade flows and we believe in the near future we will see
BI-FAST strengthening its offering to offer new products.
Real-time payments accounted for nearly one-third (30.2%) of all eCommerce value but
represented only 3% of all real-time payments value. Key Takeaways

Scaling up for wider inclusion and expansion • Indonesia ranks #8 globally for real-time payments volume and growth
Although Indonesia is classed by the World Bank as an upper-middle-income country, Just two years into its real-time journey, and with a CAGR of 44.6%
100 million Indonesians remain unbanked. Ongoing financial inclusion initiatives (2023-2028), it proves that the right technology, partners and central
continue to center around BI-FAST, which offers citizens and merchants low-cost entry support accelerate adoption.
to digital and mobile payments.
• Fast-tracking a cash-based economy into the digital world
Indonesia has a population of 270 million, making it the largest country in Southeast Indonesia’s real-time platform BI-FAST processed almost 2 billion instant
Asia. Meeting the real-time payments needs of so many consumers calls for huge transactions in 2023 through the ISO 20022-based ecosystem that
processing capacity — to achieve this, the Bank Indonesia is expanding the ecosystem includes 135 banks and multi-tenant aggregators who will provide future
to include multi-tenant aggregators from leading national switches, such as Rintis processing at scale.
Sejahtera, Artajasa and Alto Network. Their participation — and ability to connect
banks and non-bank participants to the central infrastructure — will be vital to support • Ramping up cross-border use cases
growth at scale as the market matures. Indonesia is already linked to Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and India.
Planned payment corridors will sustain Indonesia as the powerhouse of
As Indonesia gradually opens its real-time payments platform to fintechs, expect the Southeast Asian economy.
partnerships between banks and fintechs to accelerate real-time payment services and
overlays, making real-time payments even more pervasive.

24
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2018-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
2.7 13.1 7.3 27.4 40%
35.4%
35% 33.1%
21.9 30.5%
23.8 30% 26.5%

87.8 69.4 25%

18.9%
20%

15%
11.0%
75.4 63.1 4.9 3.2 10%
3.7%
5%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Real-Time Payments Launch Initiation/Authorization Methods Mobile Wallet Trends

2021 2 Bank Account Mobile

89.8%
% of adults who have a
mobile wallet and have used
Real-Time Payments Scheme
it in the past year (2023)
2021 – BI-FAST Real-Time Acceptance

Scheme Messaging 2 Banks P2P

ISO 20022
25
Malaysia

Market Deep Dive

Malaysia: Harmonization fosters a competitive ecosystem
A concerted effort by the government, central bank, national switch 2023 Real-Time
and industry has harmonized the nation’s payments structure.
The collaboration has helped ensure a seamless experience for
Transactions
all stakeholders, opening the ecosystem to fintechs and vertical
businesses, paving the way for Malaysia’s diverse use cases. As its
national payments network and central infrastructure for Malaysia’s
1.9B
financial markets Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet) continues to
2022-2023
consolidate and unify services, Malaysia is leading the way in driving
real-time payments expansion and enabling instant cross-border Real-Time
payments. Payments Growth

One of Southeast Asia’s dynamic economies, Malaysia’s government

has long recognized that modern financial infrastructure is key to
26%
achieving economic growth and financial inclusion. Implemented
by PayNet, Malaysia’s Real-time Retail Payments Platform (RPP) and 2023 Real-Time
consumer facing DuitNow real-time transfer service are leading the Share of Electronic
country’s real-time transformation.
Payments
By unifying different payment rails under one national regulatory
standard and network, and making payments between them
interoperable, RPP has rendered real-time payments a daily reality for
21%
the country’s 33.7 million residents. 2028f Real-Time
Using DuitNow, residents of Malaysia can now transfer money
Transactions
immediately between online banks, digital wallets, merchants and peers
using a QR code, mobile number or identification number. In 2023, they
made 1.872 billion real-time payments valued at more than US$517
4.1B
billion. This saw the country surpass larger economies, in the pursuit of
2023-2028 CAGR
real-time volume and value.

16.9%
26
 Region: Asia Pacific

Accelerated time to revenue with modern architecture and Malaysia’s instant payments value will double in the next five years
standardized connectivity Nearly one in four non-paper transactions in Malaysia are now real-time payments
From the outset, PayNet rallied banks to join the national real-time payments (21.1%), but there is still a long way to go. With its initial emphasis on capturing
scheme and migrate to ISO 20022. In collaboration with ACI Worldwide as their low-value P2P transactions, real-time payments represent only a 7.4% share of
strategic solution provider, all of Malaysia’s 36 banks onboarded in just nine months. Malaysia’s transaction value. Rising thresholds and cross-border payment linkages
This exceptionally short timeframe accelerated time to revenue — a critical factor for could change that. With the five-year forecast reporting an 18.6% CAGR, the value of
banks and collaborators. real-time payments could double to US$1.211 trillion by 2028.

Now, a significant amount of member banks’ digital transactions flow through Real-Time Payments by Type, 2023/2028 Comparison
the PayNet central infrastructure, facilitating seamless implementation, greater
efficiency and easier compliance, making Malaysia’s payments system among the
2023 2028 CAGR
region’s most efficient. Real-Time Payments Real-Time Payments (2023-
Transaction Value Transaction Value 2028)
Extending participation beyond fintechs and wallet providers (USD) (USD)
Today, industries such as insurance, billers and governments can link directly to the Bill Payments 17.8B 39.7B 17.4%
PayNet real-time payments scheme to better service merchants and consumers.
In-Store Payments 28.7B 82.7B 23.6%
This inclusive approach generates additional revenue opportunities for banks and
fosters greater financial inclusion. Online Payments 2.5B 4.1B 10.3%

Others (e.g., P2P) 468.1B 1.1T 18.3%

It also allows innovative ecosystem players — including Grab, a leading superapp
that provides everyday services like deliveries, mobility and financial services; Fave, Total 517.1B 1.2T 18.6%
a payments, shopping and discount app; and Touch ‘n Go, started as an electronic
toll collection and public transport ticketing system and more — to connect to the Currently, 91% of real-time payments value — equivalent to US$468 billion — is
real-time payments platform. through account-to-account P2P or B2B transactions. This is expected to reach
US$1.085 trillion by 2028.
Together with the growing popularity of mobile payments — 86.9% of Malaysians
own a digital wallet based on a consumer survey by GlobalData — this dynamic In-store real-time payments, while making up only 6% of the market, will experience
environment is accelerating real-time payments uptake, driving an expected CAGR a CAGR of 23.6% — the highest growth of all Malaysia’s use cases. By 2028, it will
of 16.9% from 2023 to 2028. reach over US$82 billion — 20 times more than online payments. The next five
years will also see the value gap widen between in-store and bill payments as
merchant adoption continues apace due to the growing ubiquity of QR codes.

27
QR codes are emerging as a primary channel for retail transactions
PayNet has progressively introduced new, innovative payment services, allowing it Malaysia’s success in harmonizing the country’s real-time payments
to out-compete debit and credit card payments for day-to-day purchases. ecosystem on ISO 20022 has ensured that technology is not a barrier to
real-time payments adoption. It highlights the importance of standardized
Many of Malaysia’s smaller merchants can’t (or refuse to) accept card payments due interfaces in making it easy for merchants, billers, fintechs or other
to cost and complexity, but they can accept QR-code payments and are attracted intermediaries to access and leverage value from real-time payment
by DuitNow’s low costs — MDR fees remain waived for the present — and instant platforms. Real-time payments adoption is growing steadily, but there is
liquidity benefits. still much to do to migrate consumers from cash and build cross-regional
real-time payment links.
The Malaysia national QR service allows consumers to leverage QR codes to make
transactions in key merchant categories, including fintech bills and transportation, Key Takeaways
and with local and international digital wallets like Boost, WeChat Pay and Alipay.
• Real-time transactions surpass debit/credit card payments
Future fortunes rely on domestic and international growth Malaysia processed 1.8 billion real-time payments totaling more than
Regulators plan further consolidation, such as processing ACH batch payments US$517 billion in 2023. One in four electronic transactions are now
on real-time payment rails, unlocking opportunities for banks to develop new cost instant (21.1%) with its instant scheme DuitNow, implemented by PayNet,
models and revenue streams as customers seek real-time’s faster settlement and increasingly popular for day-to-day purchases.
liquidity advantages.
• All Malaysia’s banks are harmonized on ISO 20022
A concerted effort to extend real-time to cross-border payments is finally paying Standardized interfaces prevent technology from becoming a barrier
off. DuitNow users can now make QR code real-time payments from Indonesia, to adoption and make it easy for merchants, billers, fintechs and other
Singapore, Thailand and China. intermediaries to connect to and leverage value from real-time rails.

More recently, a link enabling real-time P2P payments between Singapore’s • Value is set to double in the next five years
PayNow and DuitNow is live now. This marks an important milestone, aligning with A CAGR of 16.9% (2023-2028) will take real-time value to US$1.211 tillion
the ASEAN Regional Payment Connectivity Initiative and the G20 Roadmap for by 2028 as new use cases migrate more merchants and consumers
Enhancing Cross-border Payments. away from cash. Malaysia is also set to benefit from future cross-regional
corridors through Nexus and G20 initiatives.
Malaysia is also part of the Nexus project to implement and test a universal standard
for cross-border, placing it center stage in real-time’s global evolution.

28
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
7.4 14.6 12.6 21.2 30% 28.0%
26.7%
25.5%
24.0%
25% 22.6%
27.6 21.1%
37.6 80.2 74.8 20% 18.1%
19.9%
16.7%
15.1%
15%
11.0%
10% 7.8%
7.2 4.0 5.8%
65.0 47.8 5% 4.1%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Real-Time Payments Launch Initiation/Authorization Methods Mobile Wallet Trends

2006 3 Bank Account Mobile

86.9%
% of adults who have a
Real-Time Payment Schemes QR Code
mobile wallet and have used
it in the past year (2023)
2006 – IBFT Real-Time Acceptance
2018 – DuitNow
Scheme Messaging
4 Banks Merchants

ISO 20022 P2P Billers

29
Netherlands

Market Deep Dive

Netherlands: Drive for efficiency takes instant from “niche” to norm
The Netherlands were a pioneer in instant payments, having been 2023 Real-Time
an early adopter of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Instant
Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) to meet evolving market dynamics — and
Transactions
opportunities embedded into the Netherlands’ most popular P2P and
eCommerce use cases, making them the “new normal” for Dutch
consumers. Almost all single credit transfers between Dutch banks
1.3B
are now instant. With the new Instant Payments Regulation coming
2022-2023
into effect in 2024, the rest of the EU can learn from the Netherlands’
example. Real-Time
Payments Growth

32%
Netherlands is the #4 country for instant payments transaction volume
in Europe. In 2023, more than 1.3 billion instant payment transactions
were made, worth a total of US$1.921 trillion. By 2028, this will grow to
more than 4.1 billion transactions worth a total of US$10.109 trillion.
Instant payments now make up 10.9% of total payments volume in the 2023 Real-Time
Netherlands, placing it ahead of paper-based payments, although still Share of Electronic
below the share of other electronic payments.
Payments
By 2028, instant payments transaction volume will almost triple to
represent 28% of all transactions. As other non-instant electronic
payments move over to instant payment rails, their share will shrink
11.8%
from 81.2% in 2023 to 66.8% by 2028. 2028f Real-Time
Transactions

4.2B
2023-2028 CAGR

25.8%
30
 Region: Europe

Netherlands’ starting point was different from many other countries Easy-to-use overlays are driving P2P as the dominant use case for
The Dutch instant payments scheme, based on SCT Inst, went live in 2019 and is Dutch consumers
operated and regulated by the Dutch Payments Association. Traditionally credit-averse Dutch consumers have been quick to switch from
debit card payments to account-to-account-based payments, especially for P2P
Typically, new payment schemes are driven by governments and central banks transactions, rapidly establishing instant payments as the new normal.
seeking transformation and greater financial inclusion. In the Netherlands, it was the
PSPs and banking community that collectively kicked off instant payments. The driver P2P payments now represent 99% of Dutch instant payments value — US$1.898
was a strategic one: efficiency. trillion — with an anticipated CAGR of 39.5% from 2023 to 2028, taking it up to
US$10.038 trillion by 2028.
Through early countrywide adoption of SCT Inst as the “default” payment
method for all digitally initiated single transfers, the Netherlands achieved a Growth is being fueled by the popularity of overlay services like Tikkie, Request to
smooth transition to low-cost and seamless instant payments. This has made the Pay and Share Payment (Share to Pay), which represent most of the country’s P2P
Netherlands the front-runner in European instant payments adoption and innovation, payments and are gradually shifting to SCT Inst rails.
creating a roadmap for others and helping to shape EU payments legislation.
Tikkie is an online payments app developed by ABN AMRO that lets users send
Instant payments are essential for the expansion of iDEAL payment requests via messaging apps like WhatsApp or through QR codes in five
iDEAL is the Netherlands’ dominant eCommerce payments mechanism. It offers seconds. Processing 400 million B2B payments annually, it’s popular with social
beneficiaries an immediate guarantee of fund transfer on account-to-account media users and for small- or medium-sized enterprises sending Request to Pay. “I’ll
payments and has a 72% share of all online transactions. Tikkie you” is now a common Dutch expression.

Currently, instant payments account for 28.9% of Dutch eCommerce value; bank Real-Time Payments by Type, 2023/2028 Comparison
transfers in general have been historically highly popular as eCommerce payment
methods in the Netherlands. This should increase with the introduction of iDEAL 2.0 2023 2028 CAGR
on instant payment rails, which will add more functionality and allow instant batch Real-Time Payments Real-Time Payments (2023-
Transaction Value Transaction Value 2028)
transactions.
(USD) (USD)
Bill Payments 12.4B 57.7B 36.0%
Previously owned by Currence, iDEAL was acquired by the European Payments
In-Store Payments - - -
Initiative (EPI) in October 2023. Positioned as a common solution and innovation
Online Payments 11.2B 14.4B 5.1%
platform for the European payments ecosystem, EPI will use iDEAL as a core
component of its pan-European retail payments strategy — once again putting Others (e.g., P2P) 1.9T 10.0T 39.5%
Netherlands at the center of Europe’s payments development. Total 1.9T 10.1T 39.4%

31
Billing is expanding, but in-store adoption is a long way off
In 2023, Dutch instant bill payments reached US$12.4 billion, and by 2028, they The Dutch banking community believes that, as other payment rails
should exceed US$57.7 billion (CAGR 36%) as consumers gradually move bill migrate to instant payments, transaction volumes will increase quickly,
payments to online or mobile banking. making instant payments the de facto standard. With its track record in
mandating SCT Inst and its experience with iDEAL, the Netherlands is
Unlike other countries which have seen a high uptick in instant payments in-store, certain to remain a front-runner in eurozone payment transformations
the Netherlands has yet to see in-store acceptance. This is unlikely to change in over the coming years.
the next five years, with consumers continuing to rely on contactless debit cards
when shopping in physical outlets. Key Takeaways

Other use cases continue to emerge as financial institutions shift legacy systems to • Leading Europe in mandating real-time payments
instant settlement. This includes Dutch direct debits, more iDEAL services, Request With its track record in mandating SCT Inst, and its experience with
to Pay and QR-code payments. iDEAL, the Netherlands will be first to benefit from new EU regulations to
harmonize instant cross-border payments.
Leading European instant payments harmonization
The new EU Instant Payments Regulation will make instant payments (specifically, • SCT Inst and “social overlays” have made real-time de facto
payments settled in not more than 10 seconds) mandatory across Europe, first in The Netherlands is Europe’s #4 largest real-time market, with 1.3 billion
the eurozone and then outside of the eurozone. Harmonizing Europe’s instant transactions valued at US$10.109 trillion. Almost all the country’s digital
payments will mean faster and lower-cost processing for B2B payments — and single credit transfers are now instant, and “Tikkie” is the “go-to” for P2P
will also help businesses boost cash flow and working capital and streamline the payments.
reconciliation process.
• Efficiency-hungry PSPs lead the Dutch real-time revolution
Due to their experience implementing SCT Inst, Dutch banks will be the first to Instant payments represent 10.9% of the country’s payments volume, and
benefit from instant European cross-border payments when the new EU Regulation 28.9% of eCommerce value. By 2028, more than a quarter (28%) of all
guaranteeing access to euro-denominated instant payments comes into effect at the Netherlands’ payments will be on low-cost instant rails.
the end of 2024.

32
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
10.9 28.0 3.6 13.7 35%
29.6%
30% 26.5%

25% 22.9%
81.2 66.8 96.4 86.3 19.3%
20%
15.3%
15% 11.8%
9.0% 9.1% 9.6%
10%
7.9 5.2
4.4%
5%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Real-Time Payments Launch Initiation/Authorization Methods Mobile Wallet Trends

2017 3 Bank Account Mobile

39.9%
% of adults who have a
QR Code
mobile wallet and have used
Real-Time Payments Scheme
it in the past year (2023)
2017 – SCT Inst Real-Time Acceptance

Scheme Messaging 4 Banks Merchants

ISO 20022 P2P Billers

33
Egypt

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Egypt

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

39M 1.1B 94.9%

Egypt is one of the most recent entrants to instant payments, having Real-Time
launched its Instant Payment Network (IPN) and the InstPay mobile
overlay service in March 2022. IPN is available 24 hours a day, seven
Payments Launch

2022
days a week, 365 days a year and is able to settle transactions within
a few seconds. It supports transfers using a mobile phone number or a
real-time payments address, and is available for both banks and non-
bank financial service providers. Currently, real-time payments are in a
very early growth phase in Egypt, accounting for a 1.4% share of overall
payments by volume, but this is expected to change rapidly. By 2028, Real-Time
real-time payments are predicted to account for more than one-third of Payments Scheme
payments in the country.
2022
IPN

34
 Region: Africa

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2018-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
1.8 36.2 3.0 53.9 70%
62.9%
60%
53.2%
41.2 46.5 50%

40%
22.5 7.1 38.6%
30%
24.1%
57.0 39.3 50.5 39.0 20%
11.1%
10%
2023 2028 2023 2028 4.3%
0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.4%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

2 Bank Account Mobile

3 Merchants P2P

Billers

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
35
Kenya

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Kenya

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

20M 74M 29.9%

Kenya launched its real-time payments system PesaLink in 2017. Real-Time
PesaLink enables consumers to instantly transfer funds between
bank accounts (notable in a market with such a strong mobile money
Payments Launch

2017
presence) and handles multiple currencies, including Kenyan shillings,
euro, U.S. dollar and British pound. The Kenyan economy is very
dependent on paper-based transactions, which represented 83.8%
of the total payments volume in 2023, while real-time payments were
only 0.1%. Other electronic payments represented 16.1% of the total
payments volume. Mobile money services (M-PESA foremost among Real-Time
them) currently have a strong hold on the electronic payments market Payments Scheme
in Kenya, but they will need to be integrated with other digital payment
services in order for real-time payments to make any real headway. 2017
Relatively few Kenyan consumers have access to bank accounts, and
PesaLink
mobile money has largely taken the place of formal financial services
providers for the majority of Kenyans. The current state of real-time
payments in Kenya is likely to persist despite a strong forecast CAGR
of almost 30% from 2023 to 2028. By that time, real-time payments will
still only account for 0.5% of all transactions in the market. The Kenyan
Banking Association is currently working toward upgrading PesaLink
with ISO 20022 to further drive adoption through value-added services.

36
 Region: Africa

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.1 0.5 16.1 44.4 2.5%
2.1%
16.1 21.6 1.9%
2.0%
1.6%
1.3%
43.6 15%

24.1 1.0%
1.0% 0.8%

83.8 77.9 40.3 31.5

0.5%
0.5% 0.3% 0.3%
0.2%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods

2 Bank Account Mobile

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
37
Nigeria

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Nigeria

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

7.9B 19.7B 20%

Nigeria remains the undisputed leader in Africa in terms of real- Real-Time
time payment volume and growth forecasts. The Nigeria Inter-Bank
Settlement System (NIBSS) launched NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) in
Payments Launch

2011
July 2011, which has transformed the way Nigerians pay and conduct
their financial affairs. NIBSS is supported by all commercial banks,
micro-finance banks and mobile money operators and can be used
via different modalities, including internet and mobile banking, bank
branches, kiosks, mobile USSD, point-of-sale terminals and ATMs,
which helped NIP to achieve high adoption and usage rates. The Real-Time
COVID-19 pandemic also encouraged Nigerian consumers to shift from Payments Scheme
cash to electronic payment methods, which further supported real-time
payments growth. NIBSS launched NQR, an interoperable national 2011
QR-code standard, in March 2021 to facilitate instant P2B and P2P
NIP
payments by scanning QR codes. These changes have had a significant
impact — in 2023, 27.7% of transactions in the country were made using
real-time payments and this is expected to increase to 50.1% by 2028.
In Nigeria, real-time payments are quickly becoming a viable alternative
to cash, historically the dominant choice for payments in the country.

38
 Region: Africa

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
27.7 50.1 69.1 84.4 100%
87.4%
86.1% 86.9% 87.3%
90% 82.1% 84.7%
77.4%
6.0 25.3 13.0 80%
70.1%
72.9%
65.6%
70% 63.1%
62.7%
7.2 60%
58.7%
46.7%
50%
40%
30%
66.3 42.7 5.6 2.6 20%
10%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

71.9% 2 Bank Account QR Code

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 8583
39
South Africa

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: South Africa

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

284M 755M 21.6%

South Africa is among the global early adopters of real-time payments, Real-Time
having launched its interbank instant payments system Real-Time
Clearing (RTC) in 2006. Despite being available for 17 years, real-time
Payments Launch

2006
payments have not gained significant prominence due to several
factors, including limited customer awareness, limited participation and
high fees charged by banks on RTC transfers. Consequently, real-time
payments still account for only a 1.7% share of payments by volume in
2023. However, South Africa launched a new instant payments system,
PayShap, in 2023. This new mobile-friendly instant payments system Real-Time Payment
claims to offer a cost-effective, real-time payments service for bank- Schemes
to-bank transfers, a proxy service to allow transfers based on mobile
numbers or bank-generated ID numbers, a Request to Pay service 2006
and implementation with common retail payment services. PayShap is
RTC
anticipated to provide the much-needed push for real-time payments
growth in South Africa, but its impact has not yet been measured.
2023
PayShap

40
 Region: Africa

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
1.7 14.4 2.4 3.3 8% 7.6%
6.9%
7%
6.2%
43.2 46.7 95.3 94.9 6% 5.5%

5% 4.6%
3.8%
4%
3.1%
3%
2.1%
55.1 49.5 2.3 1.8 2% 1.5%
0.9%
1% 0.3% 0.4% 0.4% 0.6%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

45% 2 Bank Account Mobile

3 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 8583
41
Australia

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Australia

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

1.4B 2.8B 14.5%

The Reserve Bank of Australia and its Payments System Board (PSB) Real-Time
launched the New Payments Platform (NPP) in 2018. As of Q3 2023,
110 banks, credit unions, building societies and fintech companies
Payments Launch

2018
participate in the NPP system, but despite this wide coverage, real-
time payments account for only 6.1% of the total payments volume
of transactions in 2023. The high preference for payment cards and
limited use cases for NPP remained key obstacles hindering the
overall growth of real-time payments in the country. NPP is trying to
improve the situation by launching new use cases such as PayTo, a Real-Time
digital payments solution developed by AP+, a joint venture between Payments Scheme
eftpos, New Payments Platform Australia and BPAY. The PSB recently
refreshed its strategic priorities to advance payments reform, promote 2018
accessible digital payments and enhance cross-border payments. By
NPP
2028, real-time payments are expected to account for 9.5% of overall
transactions by volume. However, the announcement from Australian
Payments Plus to migrate the bulk electronic clearing system to NPP
and the government’s push for payments reform are expected to ramp
up the real-time payments volume.

42
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
6.0 9.5 8.2 16.0 12%
10.5%
9.9%
10% 9.2%
8.5%
79.2 81.0 90.2 83.6 7.8%
8% 7.1%
6.4%
5.7%
6%

3.9%
4%

14.8 9.5 1.6 0.4 1.9%

2%
0.6%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

49.7% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
43
China

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: China

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

17.2B 29.7B 11.6%

China launched its real-time payments scheme, Internet Banking Real-Time
Payment System (IBPS), in 2010 with the aim to strengthen its banking
infrastructure and boost non-cash payments. In 2023, China was
Payments Launch

2010
the fourth-largest real-time payments market globally in terms of
volume of transactions. This is primarily due to the sheer size of the
Chinese market; in terms of development, it still lags far behind the
global leader, India, and many smaller markets. In 2023, real-time
payments represented only a 3.1% share of total payments volume,
expected to grow to only 3.9% by 2028. China has a very high mobile Real-Time
payments penetration of around 90%, though real-time payments aren’t Payments Scheme
integrated with the massively popular wallets. However, due to high
levels of mobile wallet adoption, the outlook and the opportunities for 2010
real-time payments growth in China are positive.
IBPS

44
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
12.8 14.7 2.5 3.6 25% 22.3% 22.6% 22.6% 22.2%
20.8% 21.6% 21.7%
20.2% 20.0%
20%
46.5 53.0 96.4 95.8
15.2%
14.9%
15%
13.4%
11.5%
10% 9.7%

40.7 32.3 1.1 0.6 5%

2023 2028 2023 2028

0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

84.4% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
45
Hong Kong

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Hong Kong

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

535M 1.3B 20.1%

Hong Kong launched its instant payments system, Faster Payment Real-Time
System (FPS), in September 2018. Unlike several other instant payment
systems, FPS connects both banks and payment service providers,
Payments Launch

2018
allowing interoperable transfers between bank accounts and mobile
wallets. The increasing preference for mobile payment solutions —
coupled with the adoption of a nationwide common QR-code standard
and the growing acceptance of electronic payments in the wake of the
COVID-19 pandemic — have supported adoption and growth of real-
time payments in the country. While real-time payments accounted for Real-Time
only 14.1% of total payments volume in 2023, they represented a 35.1% Payments Scheme
share in terms of value. This signifies that real-time payments in Hong
Kong are mainly used for low-volume, high-value transfers. However, 2018
with consumers increasingly shifting from cash to mobile-based
FPS
payments for their day-to-day purchases, that gap will significantly
reduce, with real-time payments projected to see a 20.1% CAGR in
terms of payments volume and 14.5% in terms of value from 2023 to
2028. Similar to other Asia Pacific countries, Hong Kong is actively
pursuing cross-border initiatives. In December 2023, the Hong Kong
Monetary Authority and the Bank of Thailand launched a new cross-
border QR payments link enabling travelers from Thailand and Hong
Kong to make retail payments through their mobile payment apps. The
Hong Kong Association of Banks is also looking at phasing out cheques
in their embrace of digital payments.

46
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
14.1 29.7 35.1 61.1 60%
48.8%
46.7%
50% 43.8%
39.9%
32.0 35.6%
40%
31.1 19.0 30.6%
13.5 30% 25.1%
18.4%
20%
53.9 39.2 45.9 25.4 11.4%
10% 3.9%
0.6%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

87.9% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
47
Japan

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Japan

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

2B 2.4B 3.5%
Launched in 1973, Japan’s Zengin System is the world’s oldest real- Real-Time
time payments system. However, it is not one of the most developed.
In 2023, real-time payments represented only a 3.7% share of total
Payments Launch

1973
payments volume in Japan, and this share is not expected to change
significantly by 2028. In terms of payments volume, Japanese
consumers still overwhelmingly prefer paper-based payments — largely
cash, with its market share representing 62% of total payments volume
in 2023. By 2028, paper-based payments are expected to decline to
54.6% of total transactions, but this decrease will primarily benefit card- Real-Time
based payments. For the past several decades, the Japanese market Payments Scheme
has proven to be very resistant to change from its entrenched cultural
preference for cash (and to a lesser extent, cards). However, the 1973
Japanese government is gradually pushing to transition from a cash-
Zengin System
dominated society to a digital economy. In April 2023, the Japanese
government lifted a ban on digital salary payments. This allows
companies in Japan to pay salaries digitally — transferring salaries
directly to their employees’ smartphone payment applications instead
of moving funds into their bank accounts — a step in the Japanese
government’s strategy to move the nation toward a cashless society.

48
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
3.7 4.2 90.9 92.1 16% 14.8%
13.9%
14% 13.0%
34.3 41.2 12% 11.6%
10.8% 10.8%
10.0% 9.9%
10% 9.7% 9.6% 9.5% 9.4% 9.3% 9.3%

8%

6%
3.5 3.8
62.0 54.6 5.6 4.1 4%

2%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Method Real-Time Acceptance

48.5% 1 Bank Account

3 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
49
Pakistan

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Pakistan

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

138M 1.7B 65.5%

Pakistan is one of the most recent real-time payment markets, with the Real-Time
launch of its Raast system in January 2021. Raast is being rolled out
in phases — initially, it supported only bulk transfers, such as salaries
Payments Launch

2021
and dividend payments, and government welfare disbursements. P2P
payments were launched in February 2022. In December 2023, Raast
launched a new feature allowing users to pay merchants using the
real-time payments system via QR codes, remote transfers using bank
account numbers or mobile numbers, or its Request to Pay service.
Currently, Pakistan’s real-time payments market size is very low, but it is Real-Time
expected to grow rapidly in the forecast period — faster than any other Payments Scheme
market in the region, at a CAGR of 65.5% in terms of transaction volume
from 2023 to 2028 — due to the continued rollout of new features. 2021
It was reported recently that the State Bank of Pakistan and the Arab
Raast
Monetary Fund are engaged in talks to integrate their payment systems
and facilitate cross-border remittances between the Middle East and
Pakistan. This move is expected to increase export opportunities for
Pakistani goods and services in the region.

50
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.4 4.3 1.5 13.0 60%
49.3%
50% 46.5%
3.0 4.4 26.7 37.3 43.0%
40%
35.0%
30%
23.0%
20%
11.4%
96.6 91.3 71.8 49.7
10% 5.0%
0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

2 Bank Account QR Code

2 Banks P2P

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
51
Philippines

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Philippines

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

777M 1.5B 14.6%

The Philippines introduced its real-time payments system InstaPay, Real-Time
an interbank fund transfer service launched by Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas, in 2018. The Philippines’ economy is still heavily fragmented
Payments Launch

2018
(due to its geography) and reliant on paper-based transactions. That
same geographic separation, however, provides a lot of potential
for real-time payments (and electronic payments in general) to
enable quick transfers between different communities in the market.
In 2023, paper-based transactions represented a 98.1% share of
payments volume, while for the same period, real-time payments Real-Time
only represented 0.9% of payments volume. Real-time payments are Payments Scheme
expected to reach 1.9% by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 14.6% between
2023 and 2028. However, when looking at real-time payments as a 2018
percentage of overall electronic payments (i.e., excluding cash), the
InstaPay
story is much more positive. Real-time payments accounted for 47.2%
of all electronic payments in 2023, projected to grow to 58.7% by 2028.
The Philippines, together with Brunei and Vietnam, have confirmed
that they will join the Regional Payment Connectivity initiative linking
all Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries under
a single QR code-based cross-border payments system. With a total
of seven ASEAN central banks committed to the new system, this will
streamline cross-border payments settlement and promote the use of
local currencies in cross-border transactions.

52
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.9 1.9 11.6 23.8 70%
56.5% 57.8% 58.7%
60%
12.7 51.0%
54.2%
47.2%
1.0 1.3 14.1 50%
40.3%
37.5%
40%

30%
24.7%

98.1 96.8 75.7 62.2 20%

10% 3.9%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.4%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

87.8% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
53
Singapore

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Singapore

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

388M 717M 13.1%

Singapore has two well-developed real-time payment systems: Real-Time
FAST, an interbank fund transfer service that enables customers
of participating banks to transfer funds from one bank to another
Payments Launch

2014
(launched in 2014); and PayNow, an overlay service launched in 2017 to
build on the existing FAST infrastructure. In 2023, real-time payments
represented an 11.8% share of total payments volume. While real-time
payment volumes remain third behind non-real-time electronic payment
and paper-based payment volumes, real-time payments spending
is expected to overtake both non-real-time electronic payments and Real-Time Payment
paper-based payments by 2028. The Monetary Authority of Singapore Schemes
(MAS) has been actively expanding the reach of PayNow by linking it to
other real-time payment platforms in the region. In 2021, it connected 2014
PayNow to Thailand’s PromptPay, which enabled cross-border
FAST
transactions between both countries. MAS and the Reserve Bank of
India enabled the linkage of PayNow and India’s UPI in February 2023,
allowing for financial institutions in Singapore and India to send and
2017
receive funds between eWallets and bank accounts in real time. In PayNow
November 2023, MAS set up new cross-border payment links with the
central banks of Malaysia and Indonesia, marking another milestone
for Singapore’s expansion of cross-border payments with key regional
economies.

54
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
11.8 17.4 29.5 46.5 25%
21.5% 21.9%
20.6%
20% 19.6%
18.4%
16.9%
58.1 61.9
15% 14.4%
12.6%
39.7 28.4 10.0%
10%
6.8%
30.1 20.8 30.8 25.1 5% 4.0%
5.1%
3.2%
2.6%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

79.7% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
55
South Korea

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: South Korea

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

9.1B 12.5B 6.6%

South Korea’s real-time payments system — EBS, also known as Real-Time
HOFINET — is the second-oldest globally after Japan’s Zengin System.
EBS processed more than nine billion transactions in 2023, making
Payments Launch

1988
South Korea the fifth-largest real-time payments market worldwide.
Real-time payments represented a 19% share of total payments volume
in 2023, second to non-real-time electronic payments but ahead of
paper-based payments. Despite the long-standing presence of real-
time payments in South Korea, cards remain the dominant force in
the country’s payments market for day-to-day transactions. Real-time Real-Time Payment
payments volume are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2023 to Schemes
2028, reaching a 20.4% share of transaction volume by 2028. However,
real-time payments have a dominant 80.9% share of transaction value 1988
in South Korea, showing that they are mainly being used for more
CD/ATM
expensive transactions than for daily expenditures. The average real-
time payment in South Korea in 2023 was more than USD 2,700 in
value, compared to an average transaction value of USD 83 for other
2001
types of electronic payments. This trend is not expected to change in EBS
the longer term, as real-time payments’ share of transaction value is set
to increase in the forecast period.

56
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
19.0 20.4 80.9 86.1 25%
21.3% 21.5% 21.7% 21.7% 21.6% 21.5%
21.0% 21.1%
20.0%
20% 18.4%
18.1% 17.6% 17.3% 18.0%
70.3 74.1
15%

10%
9.1 8.7
5.5
10.7 10.1 5.1 5%

2023 2028 2023 2028

0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Method Real-Time Acceptance

67.4% 1 Bank Account

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
57
Sri Lanka

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Sri Lanka

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

156M 304M 14.3%

Sri Lanka’s real-time payments system Common Electronic Fund Real-Time
Transfer Switch (CEFTS) launched in August 2015. Although adoption
and usage of real-time payments were initially low, the market has
Payments Launch

2015
gained significant traction in recent years with the extension of CEFTS
to support interbank QR-code payments and the increasing popularity
of mobile wallet solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Incorporated
in 2002, LankaPay is Sri Lanka’s national payments network. With a
multitude of digital payment solutions, LankaPay facilitates domestic
interbank payments and settlements under the guidance of the Central Real-Time
Bank of Sri Lanka. In a move to expand its regional footprint, LankaPay Payments Scheme
signed a memorandum of understanding with Fonepay, Nepal’s largest
payments network, to enable Sri Lankan citizens traveling to Nepal (and 2015
vice versa) to make mobile-based QR-code payments at merchants
CEFTS
connected to the respective networks. Sri Lanka’s real-time payments
transaction volume is projected to see a CAGR of 14.3% from 2023 to
2028, with real-time payments and other forms of electronic payments
slowly beginning to displace cash. Consequently, real-time payments’
share of the total payments volume is set to rise to 14.4% by 2028 from
7.9% in 2023. Sri Lanka is also making strides toward enabling cross-
border payments with linkage to India’s UPI in February 2024, marking
a significant milestone in fostering digital connectivity and facilitating
faster, seamless transactions between the two nations.

58
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
7.9 14.4 43.7 60.2 45%
40.1%
38.7% 39.5% 39.8%
40% 36.9%
15.1 34.4%
35%
21.5
30% 26.7%
16.7 25% 21.4%
20%
15.0%
15.0 15%
8.5%
77.0 64.1 39.6 24.8 10%
5.2%
5% 2.7%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.9%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

QR Code P2P Billers

59
Taiwan

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Taiwan

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

671M 1.1B 11.1%

Currently, there are two instant payment schemes operating in Taiwan Real-Time
under the umbrella of the Financial Information Service Company, a
multipurpose fund transfer system that processes a range of electronic
Payments Launch

1987
fund transfers through several sub-systems. While the Interbank
ATM Funds Transfer System allows customers to conduct various
transactions including fund transfers and payments in real time at ATMs
and via online banking channels, Financial XML facilitates interbank
fund transfers between businesses in real time. Despite the availability
of real-time payments in Taiwan since 1987, they still only account for Real-Time Payment
a 7.9% share of the total payments volume of transactions in 2023, a Schemes
small increase from its 2022 share. This can be attributed to limited
real-time payment use cases and increasing popularity for payment 1987
cards and especially mobile wallets. Real-time payments volume share
Interbank ATM
is expected to reach 10.3% by 2028, as the use cases for real-time
payments in the country continue to focus on high-value, low-volume Funds Transfer
payments such as P2P and bill payments. Recently, the Taiwanese QR System
code mobile payments service TWQR was launched in South Korea.
The integration of TWQR into the Korean payments system is expected 2003
to further encourage tourism and spending from Taiwan.
Financial XML

60
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
7.9 10.3 11.7 19.1 15%
14.3% 14.3% 14.3% 14.6% 14.7% 14.8% 14.8% 14.8%
13.4%
12.6%
12.5 12.4%
12.0%
11.2% 11.5%
47.2 59.0 80.3 74.7 10%

7.5%

5.0%
8.0 6.2
44.9 30.7 2.5%

2023 2028 2023 2028

0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

74.3% 3 Bank Account Mobile

3 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
61
Thailand

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Thailand

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

20.4B 32.8B 10%

With 20.4 billion transactions in 2023, Thailand is the world’s third- Real-Time
largest real-time payments market, behind India and Brazil. Thailand’s
real-time payments system PromptPay launched in 2016 with the aim of
Payments Launch

2016
bolstering financial inclusion in the country. In 2023, real-time payments
accounted for a 43.2% share of total payments volume, making it the
most popular payments tool in Thailand, outstripping paper-based
payments for the first year on record. The share of real-time payments
volume is expected to continue to grow at a CAGR of 10% between
2023 and 2028, making it a below-average growth market in a global Real-Time
context due to its maturity. By 2028, real-time payments are expected Payments Scheme
to exceed a 50% share of total payments. As of December 2023,
Thailand has established cross-border linkages with seven countries: 2016
Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong
PromptPay
Kong. As cash continues to decline and regional real-time payment
linkages continue to develop, we expect strong real-time payments
growth in Thailand to continue.

62
 Region: Asia Pacific

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
43.2 55.4 25.1 39.4 80%
69.5% 70.2%
70% 66.1% 67.8% 68.9%
63.2%
59.9%
60% 55.6%

50% 47.2%
53.2 45.5
25.1 23.6 40% 36.9%

30%
22.9%
20%
31.7 21.0 21.7 15.1
10% 0.3%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

89% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
63
Austria

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Austria

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

338M 881M 21.1%

Austria was among the first countries to adopt the pan-European SCT Real-Time
Inst scheme in November 2017. However, instant payments still account
for only a 4.5% share of the total payments transaction volume in
Payments Launch

2017
2023, compared to the 50.7% share held by other electronic payments.
Austrians continue to prefer payment cards, particularly contactless,
with their usage having grown continually. Nevertheless, Austria is
one of the stronger instant payment growth markets in Europe, with
volumes expected to see a CAGR of 21.1% from 2023 to 2028.
Real-Time
Payments Scheme

2017
SCT Inst

64
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
4.5 10.8 2.6 6.1 20%
18% 17.3%
16.0%
50.7 51.6 96.0 92.9 16%
14.4%
14% 12.5%
12% 10.4%
10%
8.1%
8%
5.9%
6%
4.1%
44.8 37.6 1.4 1.0 4% 2.4%
1.2%
2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

QR Code P2P Billers

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
65
Belgium

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Belgium

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

171M 801M 36.2%

Belgium enabled instant payments with the adoption of the pan- Real-Time
European SCT Inst scheme in March 2019. Therefore, it may expect to
see a boost in adoption as access to instant payments becomes more
Payments Launch

2019
universal in the near term, when the new law making instant payments
mandatory in the EU comes into force. Currently, the use of instant
payments is still at a nascent stage, accounting for only 2.1% of the
total payments volume in 2023, a lower share than in 2022. However,
instant payments are expected to grow significantly in the forecast
period (2023-2028), with an expected CAGR of 36.2%, reaching an Real-Time
8.5% share of overall transaction volume by 2028. Payments Scheme

2019
SCT Inst

66
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
2.1 8.5 0.9 4.0 12%
10.5%
10%
73.0 72.7 98.6 95.6 8.4%
8%
6.5%
6%
4.8%
3.5%
4%
2.4% 2.6% 2.8%
24.9 18.9 0.5 0.4 2.1%
2% 1.3%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

34.6% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
67
Croatia

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Croatia

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

2.5M 74M 97.1%

Croatia is among the most recent entrants to the instant payments Real-Time
space in Europe, having launched NKSInst in October 2020.
Continuous developments, such as the launch of a proxy lookup
Payments Launch

2020
service in March 2021, will support the growth of instant payments over
the next few years, though participation among banks remains low,
with only seven institutions having signed up thus far. Due in part to its
nascent state, Croatia is the second highest growth market in Europe
(after Ireland). Over the next five years, instant payment transactions
are anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 97.1%, and by 2028, they are Real-Time
expected to amount to 2.2% of all payments (up from 0.1% currently). Payments Scheme

2020
NKSInst

68
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.1 2.2 0.2 5.2 6%
5.5%

5%
36.7 38.4 96.8 92.1 4.6%
4%
3.2%
3%

1.8%
2%
63.2 59.4 3.0 2.7 0.9%
1%
0.2%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

2 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

P2P Billers

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
69
Czech Republic

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Czech Republic

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

239M 692M 23.6%

Czech Republic enabled instant payments with the launch of a Real-Time
domestic instant payments service in November 2018, which is
operated via Czech Express Real-Time Interbank Gross Settlement.
Payments Launch

2018
Despite limited participation and use cases, instant payments (CERTIS)
gradually gained traction in the country and accounted for a 3.9% share
of the total volume of payment transactions in 2023. The prevalence of
cash usage in the market, however, provides further growth prospects
for instant payments, and the share of instant payments is expected to
grow to 10% by 2028. Real-Time
Payments Scheme

2018
CERTIS

70
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
3.9 10.0 3.2 9.7 18%
15.8%
16% 14.5%
14% 12.8%
12% 10.7%
51.0 53.1 96.0 89.6
10% 8.8%

8% 7.1%
5.7%
6% 4.9%
3.9%
45.1 36.9 0.8 0.7 4%
2% 0.5%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Method Real-Time Acceptance

1 Bank Account
3 Banks Merchants

P2P

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
71
Denmark

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Denmark

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

639M 963M 8.6%

In 2023, instant payments represented a 13.7% share of payments Real-Time
volume, putting them ahead of paper-based payments at 12%, with non-
instant electronic payments at 74.4%. Instant payments are predicted to
Payments Launch

2014
grow at a CAGR of 8.6% between 2023 and 2028, below the average
regional growth rate of 17.5%. This growth will come partially as a result
of a decline in cash, but also a decline in the share of other types of
electronic payments, showing that instant payments are set to benefit
from the push toward a more digital economy in Denmark. In addition,
Danske Bank-owned mobile application MobilePay — a platform for Real-Time
both instant P2P and B2P payments — has now merged with Norway’s Payments Scheme
mobile payments app Vipps. Both projects will facilitate instant cross-
border transactions with different parts of the Nordic region, thus 2014
increasing the volume of transactions. With the collapse of the P27
Straksclearing
project, this private collaboration is the only way for Danish consumers
to make cross-border real-time payments for the foreseeable future.

72
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
13.7 17.3 1.8 3.0 20%
18.4% 18.7%
18.9%
17.7%
18% 16.8%
15.5%
16%
13.3%
14% 12.2%
74.3 74.1 97.9 96.8 12%
11.5% 11.8%
10.0%
10%
8%
6% 5.1%
4.2%
12.0 8.6 0.3 0.2 4% 3.2%
2%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

48.6% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
73
Finland

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Finland

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

147M 959M 45.5%

Finland has two instant payment schemes in place. The first, Siirto, Real-Time
is a domestic instant payments system launched in March 2017. The
second is the pan-European SCT Inst, which was adopted in June 2018.
Payments Launch

2017
Finland’s instant payments growth has been slower than anticipated
due to limited adoption. However, it is expected to accelerate during
the forecast period, with an expected CAGR of 45.5% for instant
payments volume, mainly due to the anticipated bolstering effect of a
new law mandating instant payments across the EU. Finland was also
part of the now-defunct P27 pan-Nordic real-time payments initiative, Real-Time Payment
but now Finnish cross-border real-time payments will be limited to the Schemes
Eurozone via SCT Inst.
2017
Siirto

2018
SCT Inst

74
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
3.6 19.2 4.4 27.2 25%
22.2%

20%
17.3%
78.0 67.0 95.3 72.6 15%
12.9%

9.3%
10%
6.5%
18.4 13.8 0.3 0.2 5% 2.9%
4.4%
1.8% 2.2%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.4%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

35.1% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
75
France

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: France

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

335M 1.7B 39.1%

Like all countries in the Eurozone, France has adopted the pan- Real-Time
European SCT Inst scheme for instant payments. SCT Inst was
developed by the European Payments Council (EPC) with the aim of
Payments Launch

2018
creating an instant payments network within Europe — specifically
the SEPA region. So far, the adoption of SCT Inst among financial
institutions has been very slow, but the European Commission (EC)
is working on a new Regulation that would extend access to instant
payments in euro, which has now received political agreement. Among
other provisions, this Regulation would place an obligation on EU Real-Time
payment service providers to offer instant payments in euro if they Payments Scheme
already offer “slower,” non-instant SEPA credit transfer means of euro
transfer, making it cost-competitive with other bank transfer options. 2018
The ability to transfer funds instantly, not only within France but also to
SCT Inst
other European markets, is expected to bolster usage in the long term.
In 2023, instant payments represented only a 0.7% share of the total
payments volume, as the payments industry in France is dominated
heavily by card and traditional batch transfer payments. Paper-based
payments still represent a 37.7% share of total payments volume in
the market. By 2028, the market share of instant payments in France
by volume is expected to reach 3.1%, with the market growing at an
impressive CAGR of 39.1%.

76
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.7 3.1 0.5 2.3 5.0%
4.5%
4.5%
4.0%
3.8%
61.7 66.2 98.1 96.8 3.5%
2.9%
3.0%
2.5% 2.2%

2.0% 1.6%
1.5% 1.1%
37.7 30.7 1.4 0.9
1.0% 0.7%
0.2% 0.4%
0.5% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

28% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
77
Germany

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Germany

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

1.5B 3.3B 17.1%

Germany adopted SCT Inst in 2017, gaining access to an instant Real-Time
payments scheme that not only provides euro transfers among
participating financial institutions in Germany but also with any
Payments Launch

2017
participating financial institution in Europe. Despite this regional link
being in place, instant payments represent only a small part of total
payments volume and spending in Germany. In 2023, instant payments
accounted for a 3.5% share of total payments volume, whereas other
forms of electronic payments represented 66.6% and paper-based
payments 29.9%. Over the next five years, the main trend in the market Real-Time
will be the growth of instant payments as cash slowly declines. With Payments Scheme
Germany being a cash-preferring market, the clear opportunity for
instant payments in the market is to take advantage of the decline in 2017
cash usage. The new EC Mandate on instant payments is expected to
SCT Inst
accelerate adoption in the near term.

78
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
3.5 7.5 2.1 5.9 12%
9.8%
10% 9.2%
8.3%
66.6 69.1 97.5 93.8 8%
7.3%
6.2%
6% 5.1%
3.9%
4% 2.9%
29.9 23.4 0.4 0.3 2.2%
1.6%
2%
0.6%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

30.1% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
79
Greece

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Greece

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

45M 239M 39.7%

Greece launched its instant payments system IRIS Online Payment in Real-Time
May 2017, which enabled instant payments through internet banking
systems using account numbers or IBANs. In June 2017, it launched IRIS
Payments Launch

2017
Mobile Payment, allowing instant payments through mobile banking
channels using the recipient’s email address, mobile phone number,
company VAT number or QR code. It is expected that in the long
term, mobile payments will see a steep growth in Greece, and instant
payments are poised to benefit. Currently, growth in instant payments
has been slow in Greece due to limited participation from banks. Real-Time
However, with paper-based transactions holding a 56.1% share of Payments Scheme
transactions by volume in 2023, Greece has huge potential for instant
payments growth in the near-to-medium term. 2017
IRIS

80
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.7 3.2 5.0 24.4 7%
5.8%
6% 5.3%

43.3 51.1 82.0 66.6 5% 4.5%

4% 3.5%

3% 2.5%

56.1 45.7 13.0 9.0 2% 1.6%

0.8%
1% 0.5%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.3%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

QR Code P2P Billers

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
81
Hungary

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Hungary

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

209M 536M 20.8%

Azonnali Fizetési Rendszer (AFR) is Hungary’s domestic instant credit Real-Time
transfer scheme, launched in March 2020 in near compliance with SCT
Inst standards. Despite instant payments being less than three years
Payments Launch

2020
old in Hungary, they are already relatively established, with the share of
instant payments by volume standing at 4.5% in 2023, ahead of more
established regional peers. This can be attributed to AFR supporting
different kinds of payments, including individual P2P, bulk and recurring
payments, and providing the convenience of being able to pay using
a mobile phone number, email address or tax identification number. Real-Time
The Hungarian Central Bank MNB requires all Hungarian banks to offer Payments Scheme
instant payments via AFR. Uniform payment initiation methods using
QR codes and NFC will become mandatory in 2024. These measures 2020
are part of MNB’s strategy to raise the share of electronic transfers to
AFR
two-thirds of all transactions in 2030. The growth in instant payments
volume is expected to continue during the forecast period at the
expense of cash, with an expected CAGR of 20.8% from 2023 to 2028,
which is above average for the region.

82
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
4.5 10.0 4.3 10.5 16% 14.6%
13.2%
14%
47.7 58.6 95.1 89.2 11.8%
12% 10.6%
9.5%
10% 9.1% 8.8% 8.7%
7.5%
8%

6%

47.8 31.4 0.6 0.3 4%

2%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

2 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

P2P Billers

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
83
Ireland

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Ireland

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

1.9M 79.4M 110.3%

Instant payments have not been launched at a country level in Ireland, Real-Time
although a handful of banks offer this service via SCT Inst. As a result
of this very early phase of adoption, the share of instant payments in
Payments Launch
overall payments by volume was negligible in 2023. Most consumers
in Ireland opt for cards when making electronic payments, and this is
Not
not expected to change in the near term. Ireland is the fastest-growing Formally
instant payments market in Europe, with a CAGR of more than 100% in
terms of instant payments transaction volume between 2023 and 2028, Launched
but this is largely due to a very low starting base. By 2028, instant
payments will still only account for 1.4% of overall payments by volume
in the country, even given this huge growth rate. Real-Time
Payments Scheme

Not Formally
Launched
SCT Inst

84
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.0 1.4 0.0 0.6 2.0%
1.9%
1.8%
63.3 74.3 98.8 98.6 1.6%
1.5%
1.4%
1.2%
1.2%
1.0%
0.8%
0.7%
0.6%
36.7 24.3 1.2 0.8
0.4%
0.2% 0.0% 0.1% 0.2%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

53.6% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
85
Italy

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Italy

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

360M 954M 21.5%

Italy adopted the pan-European SCT Inst scheme at an early stage, in Real-Time
November 2017. Despite the head start and wide participation from
banks and payment service providers (292 participants as of November
Payments Launch

2017
2023), the growth in adoption and use of instant payments has been
slow due to the high preference for cash. While instant payments
account for just a 1.2% share of total payment volume transactions
in 2023, paper-based transactions held a 66.7% share. The lingering
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and regulatory intervention on
cash usage are beginning to take effect, however, and the share of Real-Time
cash is expected to decline to 57.4% by 2028 — but based on current Payments Scheme
projections, this will mostly be to the benefit of card-based payments.
2017
SCT Inst

86
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
1.2 3.0 2.4 6.5 8%
7.1%
6.8%
7%
32.1 39.6 92.0 89.0 6.3%
6% 5.7%
4.8%
5%

4% 3.6%

3%
2.2%
66.7 57.4 5.6 4.5 2%
0.7%
1%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

53.7% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
87
Norway

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Norway

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

331M 819M 19.9%

Norway is one of the closest markets in the world to being fully Real-Time
cashless, with only 2.3% of transaction volume in the market being
paper based in 2023. Instant payments, however, represented only
Payments Launch

2011
a 7.9% share of total payments volume in 2023, a distant second
behind non-instant electronic payments, which were at 89.9%. Instant
payments volume is forecast to grow steadily to reach a 14.6% share of
overall payments volume by 2028, with a CAGR of 19.9% over the next
five years — well above the regional average. This growth comes not
only at the expense of cash’s share of payments volume but also other Real-Time Payment
forms of electronic payments, showing that consumers are actively Schemes
moving away from card and “slow” transfers to instant payments in
this market. Norway’s largest payments application, Vipps, allows 2011
consumers and merchants to complete instant payment transactions
Straksbetalinger
between bank accounts in Norway via a mobile UX. Vipps also merged
with Danske Bank’s MobilePay in 2022 to create an ecosystem that
enables instant payment cross-border transactions between Norway,
2015
Denmark and Finland. Vipps

88
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
7.9 14.5 1.0 3.9 16% 14.7%
13.6%
14%
12.1%
89.9 84.3 98.9 96.0 12% 10.7%
9.4%
10%
8.0%
8% 6.9%
5.7%
6% 4.7%
3.6%
2.2 1.2 0.1 0.1 4%
1.8%
2%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

40.5% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
89
Poland

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Poland

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

409M 864M 16.1%

Poland was one of the earliest adopters of instant payments in Europe Real-Time
and has two systems in place, both launched in 2012. The Express Elixir
instant payments scheme was launched by Krajowa Izba Rozliczeniowa,
Payments Launch

2012
Poland’s payments clearing system. The second scheme, BlueCash,
was launched by the Blue Media company. Both platforms enable
instant payment transfers between bank accounts, operate 24/7/365,
and are available to both individuals and businesses. The main
difference between Express Elixir and BlueCash is that the former only
allows transfers between accounts of participating banks, whereas Real-Time Payment
with BlueCash, either the sender or the receiver must be a user of the Schemes
BlueCash platform. However, Poland is not a regional leader in instant
payments development; in 2023, instant payments represented a 2012
small 1.9% share of the total payments volume in the country. Future
BlueCash
projections point to a gradual growth of instant payments, with volumes
expected to reach 3.4% in 2028, growing at a CAGR of 16.1% from 2023
to 2028.
2012
Express Elixir

90
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
1.9 3.4 0.2 0.4 4.5%
4.0% 4.1% 4.1%
3.8%
4.0%
3.4%
3.5%
66.5 80.6 99.5 99.4
3.0% 2.7%

2.5%
2.0% 1.8%

1.5% 1.2%

1.0% 0.7%
31.6 16.0 0.3 0.2 0.4%
0.5% 0.3%
0.1% 0.1% 0.1%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

50.6% 2 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
91
Portugal

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Portugal

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

12.9M 111.4M 53.8%

Portugal does not have a domestic instant payments scheme. The Real-Time
Portuguese interbank clearing system SICOI enabled SCT Inst
transfers in Portugal in September 2018. Initially available for domestic
Payments Launch

2018
transactions, Portuguese banks started offering cross-border transfers
from October 2020. The instant payments market in the country is still
in its nascent stage, with instant payments accounting for just a 0.2%
share of the total payments transaction volume in 2023. However, with
the preference for electronic payments being on the rise, prospects
for instant payments look promising, with volumes anticipated to see a Real-Time
CAGR of 53.8% from 2023 to 2028. Payments Scheme

2018
SCT Inst

92
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.2 1.3 0.9 6.0 3.0%
2.7%
2.5%
42.7 45.9 93.8 90.3
2.0% 1.9%

1.5% 1.3%
0.9%
1.0%
0.6%
57.2 52.8 5.3 3.7 0.4%
0.5% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
0.1%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

QR Code P2P Billers

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
93
Spain

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Spain

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

763M 2.8B 29.6%

Spain launched its domestic instant payments service Bizum in October Real-Time
2016 and later adopted SCT Inst in November 2017. The adoption
and use of instant payments in the country has been on a gradual
Payments Launch

2016
rise, supported by increasing participation from banks and financial
institutions. While Bizum has 37 participants, SCT Inst was adopted by
more than 90 banks in Spain as of November 2023. Spain is still a card-
dominated market, but strong growth is expected for instant payments
in the near term, owing to a combination of the mobile-based Bizum
service (largely used for P2P payments) and the new law mandating Real-Time Payment
instant payments across the EU. In terms of volume, instant payments Schemes
are set to see a CAGR of 29.6% from 2023 to 2028. Consequently, the
share of instant payments of the total payments volume is expected to 2016
increase from 2.3% in 2023 to 7.7% by 2028.
Bizum

2017
SCT Inst

94
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
2.3 7.7 0.8 4.2 18%
15.4%
16%
13.2%
14%
40.1 42.4 96.5 93.7 11.0%
12%
10% 8.9%
7.1%
8%
5.5%
6% 4.6%
3.7%
57.6 49.8 2.8 2.1 4%
2.1%
2% 0.9%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.3%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

42.1% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
95
Sweden

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Sweden

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

1.1B 2B 12.4%
In 2023, instant payments accounted for a 14.8% share of total Real-Time
payments volume, placing it second to non-instant electronic payments,
which held a 76.5% share of payments. However, looking at share of
Payments Launch

2012
value of transactions, instant payments only represented 2% of total
spending, while electronic payments (excluding instant payments) had
a share of 97.4% and paper-based payments 0.6%. This suggests that
instant payments are being used for everyday expenditures, likely
via the Swish app, accessible to the majority of Swedish consumers.
Sweden is slowly preparing to transition to a cashless economy within Real-Time
the next 10 years, so most of the growth predicted for the instant Payments Scheme
payments sector is expected to come as a result of a decline in paper-
based payments. Instant payments volume is expected to grow at a 2012
CAGR of 12.4% from 2023 to 2028; by 2028, paper-based payments
BIR
are expected to drop to 6.4% of the total payments volume. Sweden
was also part of the (scrapped) P27 initiative, which aimed to create
a real-time payments cross- border infrastructure between Sweden,
Denmark and Finland. Now, it seems that cross-border real-time
payments do not lie in the immediate future for Sweden.

96
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
14.8 23.4 2.0 3.6 30%
25.0%
23.6%
25%
21.8%
20.0%
76.5 70.2 97.4 96.0 20% 18.1%
16.2%

15%
13.1% 14.3%
11.2%
9.4%
10% 7.3%
8.7 6.4 5.5%
0.6 0.4 5% 1.9%
3.5%

2023 2028 2023 2028

0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

52.5% 3 Bank Account Mobile

3 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
97
Switzerland

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Switzerland

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

618M 1.5B 19.2%

In 2023, instant payments represented a 9.3% share of the total Real-Time
payments volume, making them the smallest payments tool in the
market after other electronic and paper-based payments. However,
Payments Launch

2016
future projections for instant payments are positive — expected to
reach 18.8% of the total payments volume by 2028 — with an above-
regional average CAGR of 19.2% between 2023 and 2028. The
expected growth is due to a number of developments. The TWINT
mobile overlay service for the current instant payments scheme
continues to be vastly popular. In 2023, TWINT reported more than Real-Time
five million users (out of a population of 8.7 million). Together with the Payments Scheme
Swiss National Bank, the Swiss Central Infrastructure provider SIX
is developing a new instant payments scheme, SIC 5, expected to 2016
launch in late 2024 — by then, the large majority of banks will be able
TWINT
to receive instant payments and process them in seconds. Overall,
Switzerland remains a relatively typical, if above-average, Western
European payments market — that is, one dominated by card-based
payments and, to a lesser extent, cash.

98
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
9.3 18.8 0.4 0.9 30%
25.2%
24.0%
25%
22.0%
56.9 55.7 19.6%
20%
17.0%
14.0%
15%
10.1%
10%
33.8 25.5 98.8 98.6 6.8%
0.8 0.5 5%
3.6%

0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.4% 1.4%

2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

QR Code P2P Billers

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
99
Turkey

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Turkey

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

4.1B 8.8B 16.6%

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey introduced instant Real-Time
payments in the country with the launch of Retail Payment System
(RPS) in December 2012. The scheme supports individual P2P, C2B and
Payments Launch

2012
B2B transfers as well as bulk transfers, such as salary payments. For
many years, transfers through RPS were limited to business hours; this
prompted the Central Bank to launch a new instant payments system
called Instant and Continuous Transfer of Funds (FAST) in January 2021,
making instant payments available 24/7. The new system supports
payments using mobile phone number, ID number, or email address Real-Time Payment
and payments using QR codes. Since the launch of FAST, the number Schemes
of instant payments made in the market has more than doubled, and
in 2023, instant payments accounted for 12.3% of all transactions in 2012
Turkey.
Retail Payment
System

2021
FAST

100
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
12.3 10.8 92.5 88.5 30%
25.3% 26.0% 26.3% 26.4% 26.3%
25% 22.6%
42.3 48.8 19.2%
20%
17.0%

15% 13.2%

9.5% 9.9%
10.5 10% 8.3% 8.9%
45.5 33.7 6.0 7.7%

1.5 1.0 5%

2023 2028 2023 2028

0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

62.8% 2 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
101
United Kingdom

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: United Kingdom

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

4.6B 6.3B 6.6%

The payments industry in the U.K. is still tied strongly to card payments Real-Time
infrastructure. Real-time payments in the U.K. represented a 9.2% share
of total payments volume in 2023, which is above the regional average
Payments Launch

2008
of 7.8%. However, considering the U.K.’s Faster Payments Service (FPS),
launched in 2008, was a regional pioneer, its position in the region is
not as strong as might be expected. Although the volume of real-time
payments grew 16% year over year from 2022 to 2023, the share of
real-time payments in the overall payments mix has declined in the
U.K. since 2022. Other means of electronic payments — most notably Real-Time
cards and card-based mobile payments — are outstripping real-time Payments Scheme
payments in the U.K. By 2028, real-time payments will have overtaken
paper-based transactions, reaching a 10.8% share of total payments 2008
volume, while electronic payments and paper-based payments will be
Faster Payments
at 80.9% and 8.3%, respectively. Despite ambitious plans to overhaul
real-time payments in the U.K. in the form of the New Payments Service
Architecture (NPA) proposed in December 2017, repeated delays
and scope revisions to the NPA have left the status of this project
unclear. Other U.K. payment schemes have already migrated to ISO
20022; however, Faster Payments remains on the ISO 8583 standard.
Following the Future of Payments Review published in 2023, U.K.
instant payments modernization, known currently as NPA, is uncertain,
with progress subject to the U.K.’s National Payments Vision due later in
2024.

102
 Region: Europe

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
9.2 10.8 3.5 7.0 14%
11.6% 11.8%
12%
10.9% 11.2%
92.9 10.3% 10.6%
80.0 80.9 96.3 10% 9.6% 9.8%
9.3%

8% 7.6%
6.9%
6.2%
6% 5.8%
5.5%
8.3 4%
10.8 0.2 0.1
2%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

45.8% 2 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 8583
103
Argentina

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Argentina

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

6.7B 19.9B 24.4%

Argentina has three instant payment schemes. The first scheme, Pago Real-Time
Electrónico Inmediato (PEI), was launched in 2016. PEI facilitates P2P
transfers between mobile wallets and supports real-time payments
Payments Launch

2016
at mobile point-of-sale devices and on websites. DEBIN, the second
scheme, is an instant direct debit system launched in September 2017.
While these systems have been available for quite some time, their
contribution to the growth of real-time payments in the country has
remained low due to their limitations. In October 2020, the Central
Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) approved the Transfers 3.0 Real-Time Payment
scheme to create an open and interoperable payments system. As Schemes
part of the first stage of implementation of Transfers 3.0 in December
2020, a standardized QR-code payments interface was launched, 2016
allowing users to make payments by scanning any QR code with any
PEI
mobile banking app or digital wallet solution. This change galvanized
real-time payments in Argentina, similar to PIX in Brazil, showing
the transformative power of mobile payment integrations for real-
2017
time payments, especially in historically cash-dependent markets. DEBIN
The system aims to eventually replace DEBIN and PEI. Real-time
payments in Argentina already account for 36.6% of all payments — it 2020
is also growing at a similar pace as the regional leader Brazil with an Transfers 3.0
anticipated CAGR of 24.4% in terms of transaction volume from 2023 to
2028.

104
 Region: Latin America

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
36.6 62.4 86.6 88.6 90%
76.4% 77.1%
80% 73.6% 75.3%
70.1%
70% 63.9%
60% 53.9%
20.7
50% 38.7%

18.6 5.8 5.2 40% 28.1%

7.6 6.2
20% 12.7%
42.7 19.0
10% 6.8% 7.1% 8.5% 10.5%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

84.6% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
105
Chile

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Chile

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

1.2B 1.8B 8.1%

Real-time payments in Chile have been available since the launch Real-Time
of Transferencias en Línea (TEF) by Centro de Compensación
Automatizado (CCA) in 2008. Although Chile remains a cash-dominated
Payments Launch

2008
society, the country has made significant progress toward electronic
payments, supported by government initiatives, raising the banked
population and improving payments infrastructure.

In 2023, Chile published the “Fintech Law,” where the Comisión para
el Mercado Financiero — Commission for the Financial Market (CMF) Real-Time
— assumes the supervisory role for financial service providers. The Payments Scheme
objective of the Fintech Law is to promote competition and improve
financial inclusion. Open finance and new low-value compensation 2008
chambers are key initiatives to enhance the Chilean real-time scheme.
TEF
Chile is the fourth largest real-time payments market in South America,
but it is also one of the slowest growing in the forecast period, with an
expected CAGR of 8.1% from 2023 to 2028.

106
 Region: Latin America

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
12.8 14.7 2.5 3.6 25% 22.3% 22.6% 22.6% 22.2%
20.8% 21.6% 21.7%
20.2% 20.0%
20%
46.5 53.0 96.4 95.8
15.2%
14.9%
15%
13.4%
11.5%
10% 9.7%

40.7 32.3 1.1 0.6 5%

2023 2028 2023 2028

0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

57.7% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 8583
107
Colombia

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Colombia

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

70M 417M 42.6%

Colombia made real-time payments available with the launch of Transfiya (also
Real-Time
known as Transferencias YA) in September 2019. The real-time payments volume
and value are relatively low compared to paper-based payments, accounting for Payments Launch
3.7% share in terms of volume, though this is only the second lowest share in the
region, ahead of Mexico. Colombia has been continually enhancing Transfiya
since its launch. Effective from September 2022, the daily transfer limit was
increased to 2 million Colombian pesos (approximately 500 USD), and the number
2019
of transactions was increased to 15; B2B and QR code-based P2P payments
functionality was added to the Transfiya system in 2023. In the forecast period of
2023 to 2028, Colombia is the second fastest growing in the region after Peru in Real-Time
terms of real-time payments volume, with an expected CAGR of 42.6%.
Payments Scheme
2023 also witnessed the beginning of a great disruption in terms of immediate
payments for Colombia. The Central Bank of Colombia, also known as Banco de la 2019
República, has been working to define the new rules of the immediate payments
system in the country. Analyzing Brazil’s success with PIX, the Central Bank
Transfiya
has been following in its footsteps and taking advantage of this experience to
implement immediate payments 24x7 and interoperability throughout the financial
ecosystem. In turn, they plan to launch a centralized directory of aliases, which
will have a great impact on the innovation of new use cases and improve the user
experience.

Colombia will become a regional reference for immediate payments, facilitating

the entry of new participants (such as fintechs), improving financial inclusion and
controlling real-time fraud. ACI Worldwide has been chosen as the main provider to
enable real-time payments (with the ISO 20022 standard) in Colombia.

108
 Region: Latin America

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.6 3.5 0.4 2.2 14%
12.8%
12.3%
16.2 24.1 12%
81.2 86.3 11.5%
10%
9.7%
8%
6.6%
6%

4% 3.7%
83.2 72.4 18.4 11.5 1.4%
2%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.4%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Method Real-Time Acceptance

69.1% 1 Mobile
3 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
109
Mexico

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Mexico

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

3.8B 5.6B 7.9%

Mexico was an early adopter of real-time payments in Latin America, Real-Time
with its Sistema de Pagos Electrónicos Interbancarios (SPEI) system
having been in place since 2004. Despite its head start in the region,
Payments Launch

2004
adoption of real-time payments has been slow due to the country’s
high unbanked population and lack of awareness about electronic
payments. However, the growth of real-time payments gained some
traction in recent years, with the launch of Cobro Digital (CoDi) in
September 2019, which extended the use of real-time payments to low-
value, day-to-day payments through QR codes and NFC technology. Real-Time
Currently, real-time payments hold only an 8.3% share of overall Payments Scheme
payments in Mexico, far lower than paper-based payments, which
dominate the market with a share of 80%. Mexico is, however, one of 2004
the slowest-growing markets in the region, with the lowest forecast
SPEI
CAGR in Latin America at 7.9% from 2023 to 2028.

110
 Region: Latin America

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
8.3 12.9 73.4 79.4 50%
44.0% 43.9% 42.7%
45% 41.7%
11.7 41.5% 40.6%
18.9 24.4 19.0 40%
35% 34.7%
30% 27.7%
25%
21.0%
20%
14.9%
12.7%
15% 10.9%
80.0 68.2 2.2 1.6 9.6% 10.2%
10%
5%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

60.7% 3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used QR Code P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
111
Peru

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Peru

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

166M 1.3B 51.2%

Real-time payments went live in Peru with the launch of Immediate Real-Time
Interbank Transfers by the Cámara de Compensación Electrónica (CCE)
in 2016. Although real-time payments have been available for quite
Payments Launch

2016
some time in Peru, their adoption and usage have not gained significant
traction due to the country’s high unbanked population, inadequate
banking infrastructure, lack of awareness about electronic payments
and preference for cash. Real-time payments accounted for just 0.4%
of total payment volume transactions in Peru in 2023, and paper-based
instruments, while declining from 2022 levels, held an 87.4% share. Real-Time
The CCE made the instant payments system available 24/7 starting Payments Scheme
December 7, 2020, and partnered with Mastercard and ACI Worldwide
in February 2021 to enable real-time payments with the ISO 20022 2016
standard, removing technological barriers. Along with other measures
Immediate
focused on modernizing the Peruvian system, this is beginning to pay
dividends, and the country’s real-time payments volume is set to record Interbank Transfers
significant growth, with an expected 51.2% CAGR from 2023 to 2028.
However, by 2028, real-time payments will still only account for 2.7% of
all transactions in Peru.

112
 Region: Latin America

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
0.4 2.7 3.0 13.4 14%
12.7%
12%
12.2 18.5 81.3 74.3 9.2%
10%

8% 6.8%

6% 5.1%
4.0%
12.3 4% 3.0% 3.3% 3.4%
87.4 78.8 15.8 1.1%
2%
0.3% 0.5%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.2%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Method Real-Time Acceptance

76.6% 1 Bank Account

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
113
Bahrain

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Bahrain

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

352M 1.5B 34.2%

Bahrain is one of the most developed payment markets in the Middle Real-Time
East. Following a major upswing in usage in 2020, real-time payments
are a major component of the overall market, accounting for nearly
Payments Launch

2015
50% of total payments volume in the country and the majority of all
electronic payments. Previously, Bahrain was a cash-dominated market
— the COVID-19 pandemic was a pivotal moment in its transition to
the widespread use of digital payments, and this trend has continued
into the post-pandemic years. The share of overall payments volume
accounted for by real-time payment services is expected to reach Real-Time
77% of all transactions in the market by 2028. While Bahrain is a small Payments Scheme
market by volume, it is a leader in the Middle East, where it is the
clear front-runner in terms of real-time payments development and the 2015
adoption of use cases.
Fawri+

114
 Region: Middle East

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
49.9 77.0 13.9 39.4 90%
78.5% 81.5%
80% 74.6%
70.3%
65.5%
70%
67.7 61.0%
60% 57.2%
50.5 50% 48.7%
31.9 17.4 40%
32.0%
30%
5.6 10.1
18.2 18.4 20%
6.8%
10% 1.3%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.3% 0.6%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

3 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

QR Code P2P Billers

Scheme Messaging

Proprietary
115
Oman

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Oman

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

16M 43M 22.7%

Oman launched its mobile-based instant payments system — Mobile Real-Time
Payments Clearing & Settlement System (MPCSS, also known as
MPClear) — in July 2017. Although all banks and payment service
Payments Launch

2017
providers in Oman support the system, it has limitations — it is mobile-
only and has low transaction limits. However, in June 2023, a new real-
time gross settlement system was launched in Oman, which will soon
address the issue of transaction limits and potentially drive adoption
for high-value use cases, such as business payments. For low-value
payments, however, real-time payments have yet to make a strong Real-Time
case for displacing cash. In 2023, real-time payments accounted for Payments Scheme
only 2.2% of transactions in the market, while paper-based instruments
accounted for 58.2% of transactions. Oman’s real-time payments 2017
market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.7% from 2023 to 2028,
MPCSS
which is above the global average, but below all of its regional peers.

116
 Region: Middle East

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
2.1 4.7 1.2 2.7 9%
8.1%
8% 7.5%
6.9%
39.7 53.0 91.5 92.1 7% 6.4%
5.9%
6% 5.2%
5%
4.2%
4% 3.4%

3% 2.4%
58.2 42.3 7.3 5.2
2% 1.3%
0.9%
1% 0.4%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

3 Bank Account Mobile

3 Banks Merchants

QR Code P2P

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
117
Saudi Arabia

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Saudi Arabia

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

430M 1.3B 24.6%

Saudi Arabia is one of the latest entrants to the real-time payments Real-Time
space, having launched its sarie system in April 2021. The scheme is
supported by all banks operating in Saudi Arabia and enables instant
Payments Launch

2021
fund transfers between domestic bank accounts through internet
banking or mobile banking apps using the recipient’s IBAN, mobile
phone number, email address, national ID or residency number. Still
at a nascent stage, the outlook for real-time payments in Saudi Arabia
looks promising, with volumes expected to record a CAGR of 24.6%
from 2023 to 2028. The Saudi government’s initiatives to modernize Real-Time
the country’s payments infrastructure and the accelerated shift toward Payments Scheme
cashless payments will promote adoption of real-time payments.
However, the reduction in cash usage in this market currently benefits 2021
other forms of electronic payments more than real-time payments; the
sarie
share of other electronic payments is expected to increase from 58.1%
in 2023 to 67% in 2028.

118
 Region: Middle East

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2018-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
5.6 11.3 1.1 3.1 16%
14.4%
13.4%
14% 12.5%
58.1 67.0 97.2 95.9 12%
11.3%
10.2%
10% 9.0% 8.9%

8%
6.4%
6%

36.3 21.7 1.7 1.0 4%

2%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

83.9% 2 Bank Account Mobile

2 Banks P2P

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
119
United Arab Emirates

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: United Arab Emirates

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

58M 161M 23%

The UAE introduced its instant payments system Immediate Payment Real-Time
Instruction (IPI) in mid-2019, focusing mostly on domestic volume.
Despite being supported by more than 70 institutions, its usage has
Payments Launch

2019
not gained significant traction due to limited use cases and traditional
preference toward paper-based payment instruments. However, in
October 2023, the Central Bank of the UAE launched Aani, a new
instant payments platform intended to bolster usage of real-time
payments in the country via new features, such as Request to Pay,
payments to mobile numbers and QR-code compatibility for payments Real-Time
at the physical point of sale. Currently, real-time payments account Payments Scheme
for only a 1.5% share of total payments transaction volume, but this is
expected to increase to 3.6% by 2028. The impact Aani will have in the 2019
market remains to be seen, but mobile-based payments have proven
IPI
popular in the region, so this service has long-term potential.

2023
Aani

120
 Region: Middle East

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
1.4 3.6 1.9 4.9 8%
6.7% 7.0%
7%
6.3%
35.4 47.7 76.2 75.2 5.6%
6%
4.9%
5%
4.0%
4%
3.1%
3%
2.0%
63.2 48.7 21.9 19.8 2%
1.1%
1% 0.3%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Method Real-Time Acceptance

76.2% 1 Bank Account

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
121
Canada

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: Canada

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

1.2B 1.6B 6.2%

Real-time payments have been available in Canada since the launch Real-Time
of Interac e-Transfer in 2002. Adoption and use of real-time payments
have gained traction steadily over the last few years, thanks to the
Payments Launch

2002
wider participation by more than 280 financial institutions as of January
2024 and continued preference for electronic payments among
consumers. However, real-time payments still account for a small share
of transaction volumes — 5.9% in 2023 — compared to other electronic
payments, which have an 83.7% share. This is due to the high adoption
and usage of payment cards in Canada, especially contactless cards. Real-Time
The increased contactless payments limit in 2020 has further pushed Payments Scheme
their usage for day-to-day, low-value transactions, occupying the
space that real-time payments otherwise could at the point of sale. 2002
Meanwhile, Payments Canada is developing a new and more advanced
Interac e-Transfer
real-time payments system known as Real-Time Rail, which was
expected to go live in June 2023 but has now been delayed pending a
second review of the system.

122
 Region: North America

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
5.9 7.0 5.4 12.1 8%
7.3% 7.4%
6.8% 6.9% 7.1%
6.6%
7% 6.4% 6.5%
83.7 87.6 65.9 62.9 6% 5.7%

5%

4% 3.4%
3% 2.6%
5.4 2% 1.8%
10.4 28.7 25.0 1.3%
0.9%
1%
2023 2028 2023 2028
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Method Real-Time Acceptance

35.7% 1 Mobile
4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
123
United States

2024 Prime Time for Real-Time: United States

Real-Time Transactions
2023 2028f 2023-2028 CAGR

3.5B 13.9B 31.7%

Real-time payments are still in their infancy in the U.S., accounting Real-Time
for only a 1.5% share of the total payments volume in 2023. Instant
payments in the U.S. are negligible compared to paper-based
Payments Launch

2017
payments and non-real-time electronic payments, at 18% and 80.5%
of all transactions, respectively. The growth of real-time payments
is expected to ramp up, largely due to the launch of the FedNow®
Service, a fully centralized instant payments infrastructure, and The
Clearing House’s RTP Network. As the FedNow Service embraces
merchant retail use cases as well as B2B and B2C use cases, they will Real-Time Payment
fuel adoption across both instant payment rails. Real-time payments Schemes
are expected to grow at a CAGR of 31.7% (by volume of transactions)
between 2023 and 2028. The growth of real-time payments in the U.S. 2017
will benefit from the gradual overall decline in cash usage, with faster
Real-Time Payments
digital payment options that will settle payments over instant payment
rails becoming more mainstream. Growth will come more quickly in
the coming years, but there is still a long way to go to reach levels of
2017
usage seen in some European markets. However, the U.S. is such a Zelle
significant market overall that in 2023, it was the twelfth largest real-
time payments market by number of transactions. 2023
FedNow® Service

124
 Region: North America

Shares of Volumes by Payments Instrument (%) Real-Time Payments Volume and Share in Overall
Non-Paper-Based Transactions, 2015-2028f
Transactions Spend (USD)
% of the total volume of electronic payment transactions
1.5 4.8 0.7 2.6 6%
5.4%
5%
80.5 83.4 81.0 85.1 4.6%

4% 3.9%

3.1%
3%
2.4%
1.8%
2%
1.3%
18.0 11.8 18.3 12.3 0.8%
1.1%
1% 0.5%
2023 2028 2023 2028 0.2% 0.3%
0.0% 0.1%
0%
Paper-based payments Electronic payments Real-time payments
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

Mobile Wallet Trends Initiation/Authorization Methods Real-Time Acceptance

46.7% 2 Bank Account Mobile

4 Banks Merchants

% of adults who have a

mobile wallet and have used P2P Billers
it in the past year (2023)

Scheme Messaging

ISO 20022
125
About GlobalData
GlobalData is a leading provider of data, insights and analysis for the world’s
largest industries, covering 17 industry verticals including banking and payments.
GlobalData’s industry-leading data rests on a foundation of “Gold Standard” data
derived from trusted central sources and a team of expert analysts in each sector.

This report leverages GlobalData’s instant payments market sizing data as well as GlobalData’s annual Financial Services Consumer Survey is a key source of unique
insights on adoption of mobile wallets, use of online payment tools and consumer information, complementing GlobalData’s deep market-level and alternative
experiences of fraud from GlobalData’s Financial Services Consumer Survey. datasets to provide a complete picture of the financial services industry. The most
recent survey, the 2023 Financial Services Consumer Survey, was conducted online
The instant payments market sizing data is a custom-built dataset developed in Q1-Q2 2023 among 49,751 consumers in 51 markets globally. The survey explores
specifically for the Prime Time for Real-Time report series, based on a core global consumer behaviors, purchasing preferences and attitudes across the most
methodology of secondary research into any publicly available data on the important banking products. Every year, respondents are recruited via an online
development of real-time payment systems available from the entities that run panel. Quotas are set to ensure samples are nationally representative. The number
those systems, or from central banks. These numbers are then cross-checked of respondents to any particular question depends on individuals’ characteristics,
against GlobalData’s in-house datasets covering overall payments by type, their financial product holding and their interest in that area. Our questionnaire has
standardized and adjusted where necessary based on analyst input. To the historic been developed over a decade of iteration and client input, leading to a focused
and current-year data derived from this methodology, we apply our proprietary script that covers a wide range of financial services topics. Questions are designed
forecasting model based on tested correlations of the target variables against with an emphasis on being closed-ended questions with a natural language used
multiple macro-economic variables and then it is reviewed by our team of expert throughout. Our questionnaire aims to strike a balance between providing useable
analysts. Forecasts are provided five years into the future under this model, from time-series data from questions that remain consistent over time and questions that
the base year (2023 in this report). address emerging themes in financial services.

© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2024

ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI Payments, Inc., ACI Pay, Speedpay and all ACI product/solution names are trademarks
or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both.
Other parties’ trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

ATL2000 04-24

Source: Prime Time for Real-Time, The Global Real-Time Payments Report by ACI Worldwide and GlobalData, 2024

126