US real-time payment processor PayFi is partnering with banking association and payments company The Clearing House (TCH) to bring real-time payments (RTP) capabilities to community banks across the United States.

The Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company, established in 2016, enables merchant service providers, processors, banks, and fintechs to cost-effectively move money between bank accounts in real-time. It said that PayFi’s Branch99TM Real-Time Platform will accelerate community banks’ participation in RTPs on the network developed by TCH.

PayFi recently announced that Avidia Bank, a Massachusetts mutual community bank, had become the first community bank to join the RTP network through its Branch99 Real-Time Platform.

The RTP network is the first new core payments infrastructure built in the US in more than 40 years. Launched by TCH in November 2017, it delivers 24/7 clearing and interbank settlement, including real-time movement of money and enriched data between participating financial institutions (FIs).

The RTP network offers a suite of available use cases and an extensive level of data accompanying each RTP transaction. The network currently reaches more than 50% of US accounts for real-time payment receipt and is “on track to reach near ubiquity in 2020”.

A period of disruption

“We are in the middle of an unprecedented disruption in the banking and payments industries,” said PayFi’s head of growth, Peter Gordon. “The recent announcement of Avidia Bank being the first community bank to commit to joining the RTP network through PayFi’s Branch99TM Real-Time Platform furthers our commitment to community and regional banks.

“The ISO 20022 messaging functionality on the RTP network provides banks of all sizes with rich messaging capabilities to enable conversational commerce, allowing banks to continue to build strong relationships with their customers.”

Steve Ledford, senior vice president and RTP product executive at TCH added: “The Clearing House is excited to partner with PayFi and to work with them to bring real-time payments to their clients.

“We are committed to providing real-time payments capabilities on the RTP network to all US depository institutions. PayFi’s community and regional bank clients will be able to provide new levels of speed and efficiency in transactions on the RTP network that will ultimately benefit their customers.”