Banks Expect Real-time Payments and Open Banking to Drive Payments Transformation, Study Finds

Nearly nine out of every ten banks (87%) globally plan to move forward with open APIs, according to benchmark data in ‘2018 Global Payments Insight Survey: Retail Banking,’ from ACI Worldwide and Ovum. The benchmark, comprised of responses from executives across financial institutions, merchants and billing organisations, also showed that the emphasis on real-time payments has doubled from 31% to 62% within a 12-month span.

Other findings from the study include:

• Banks reporting a clear strategy for developing APIs increased by 47% within one year.
• 73% of banks were willing to open up their APIs to third party developers.
• Banks that now expect real-time payments to drive revenue growth increased by 60% in one year.
• The number of banks currently investing in real-time payments solutions doubled in a year, with 28% planning to make future investments.
• Real-time payments drive a new wave of real-time payment hub investment for 43% of respondents.

Real-time is becoming a reality with 78% of banks and 68% of merchants globally stating that the combination of immediate payments and open banking will drive a decline in the importance of payment cards.