How Instant Payments Are Transforming Banking and Businesses

Financial institutions, including First National Bank (FNB), are increasingly offering instant payments services, which leverage new payment rails to deliver exactly what the term promises — an instantaneous funds transfer.

As the first new payment infrastructure to come to the U.S. banking system in decades, instant payments — also commonly known as real-time payments — provide businesses and consumers the ability to send and receive funds within as little as 15 seconds. Moreover, they work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, regardless of a bank’s operating hours. The combination of speed and availability makes instant payments truly transformative for the banking industry and users alike, bringing payments into the 21st century and carrying the promise of improved cash flow, enhanced security and customer satisfaction.

How do instant payments work?

A form of electronic funds transfer, instant payments are facilitated by a pair of secure payment rails — the Federal Reserve’s FedNow and The Clearing House’s RTP. Institutions and their service providers utilize either one or both of the rails (FNB is a certified participant with both). The networks, essentially, are the same in functionality, using innovative automation to enable communication between financial institutions and swiftly move and settle funds transfers. Additionally, institutions follow strict guidelines to use each rail, including the implementation of real-time fraud checking and strong data security infrastructure that ensure transactions are safe for all involved parties.

How do users send and receive instant payments?

For those with the ability to send instant payments, the process is generally as simple as setting up the transfer through their financial institution’s app or online portal. More importantly, both the sender and receiver must have access to an instant payments service for the transfer to complete as intended. As a best practice, the parties who are involved in a one-off transaction or expect to have recurring payments should discuss using instant payments ahead of the transfer(s), much as when a business intends to use a purchasing card for payments. In this situation, the sender should have the receiver’s account number and routing number to ensure the payment goes to the right place.

What is FNB’s approach to instant payments?

During fall 2025, FNB introduced the ability for all FNB accounts (business and consumer) to receive instant payments sent by a counterparty, with sending capability coming in the near future. The feature requires no additional setup for accountholders, with existing and new accounts automatically enabled for instant payments, similar to ACH and wire transfers.

Instant payments are growing in popularity, with many of the largest financial institutions in the U.S. offering capabilities and, according to recent studies by the Federal Reserve and Association for Financial Professionals, 75 percent of businesses plan to send and/or receive instant payments in the next five years. The addition seamlessly aligns with the FNB’s approach to innovation — enhancing the accessibility, affordability and convenience of banking services for clients.

What are the business benefits of instant payments?

Speed and convenience are the most obvious advantages of instant payments, and they can positively impact businesses in several ways.

• Cash flow: Instant payments result in greater control over cash flow and more immediate increase in available capital for recipients.
• Efficiency: Electronic funds transfers that come across with such speed streamline accounting processes, allowing businesses monitor transactions in real-time and keep up-to-date balances. They can also reduce the need for and frequency of paper checks, ACH payments and wire transfers, each of which are comparatively slower and can come with higher usage fees than instant payments.
• Security: The rigorous systems designed to reduce fraud and meet regulatory requirements make instant payments a secure option for senders and recipients alike. Amid increasing instances of fraud in the U.S. and abroad, enhanced security measures are invaluable.
• Information: Certain instant payment services are able to take advantage of the technology’s advanced messaging capabilities, producing detailed invoices or supporting direct messaging between senders and receivers in real time.
• Cost: The fees associated with instant payments are relatively low, particularly compared to more costly wire payments, which can also be completed within a day but are still far slower than instant payments. Instant payment fees are closer to what businesses expect with ACH payments, but the significant advantage in speed creates a greater value for businesses.

What are some use cases for instant payments?

• Business-to-business (B2B): Wholesale vendors, retailers or manufacturers often handle large-scale orders for their business customers, with invoice amounts reaching into the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. Where a check or ACH for a larger sum may take longer to process, an instant payment ensures the funds come across cleanly and quickly.
• Business-to-consumer (B2C): Consumers appreciate businesses that can efficiently and swiftly respond to their needs. For example, if a customer returns an unused product, an instant payment from the business can quickly return the funds, building goodwill and trust.
• Government: Following an executive order directing the Federal Reserve to cease issuing and accepting paper checks as of September 30, 2025, and with the Treasury Department already using FedNow, instant payments will only become more common for federal disbursements. Given the purview of the Treasury Department, the impact to individuals and businesses will be broad — Social Security payments, federal employee payrolls, government invoice payments, tax refunds and many more transfers involving government entities should all benefit from the faster, more secure system, provided recipients have access to an instant payment service.

To learn more about instant payments and F.N.B. Treasury Management’s suite of payment services, email treasurymgmt@fnb-corp.com or call 1-866-750-5298 (8 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday through Friday).