Shortly after the Federal Reserve's FedNow instant payment system went live, The Clearing House's rival platform has moved to expand its Request for Payment (RfP) availability.
Broker dealers, billers and suppliers can now request a payment on the RTP network from their customers through secure bank channels, and receive an instant payment in response from both consumers and businesses.
Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Citi, Fifth Third, PNC Bank, US Bank and Wells Fargo are among the RTP participants offering billers the RfP option.
The Clearing House says that this puts the payer in control of the transaction, allowing them to review the RfP and decide whether to pay or decline it. A payer can send an RTP payment in response to the RfP exactly when they want to (24x7) or, depending on the financial institution, schedule the payment for a future date.
The payment happens in seconds over the RTP network with the biller receiving access to immediate and irrevocable funds, and the payer receiving immediate confirmation that the biller has received their payment.
Rusiru Gunasena, SVP, RTP product management, The Clearing House, says: “Businesses have been looking for more efficient and user-friendly ways to send bills and invoices to customers, while customers have been searching for a better payment experience that gives them more control.
“Request for Payment provides a way for billers to efficiently and securely send bills and invoices to customers through a bank’s digital channel and allows customers to have full control and insight over the payment.”
After five years of operation, last week the RTP network surpassed the 500 million payment milestone. However, it now faces competition from FedNow, which launched earlier in the month.