ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software, today announced it has launched ACI Instant Pay — a real-time payments solution that enables merchants to accept instant online, mobile and in-store payments via a simple API integration with ACI Payments Orchestration Platform — in Europe and the U.K.
The move comes against the backdrop of a regulatory push in Europe. Banks across the Eurozone must comply with a proposed European Commission law, mandating financial institutions across the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) countries to offer instant payments under the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme, at the same cost or lower-than-standard credit transfers. The new regulation is aimed at unlocking the benefits of instant payments for European economies.
The U.K. has also embarked on a modernization journey of its Faster Payments scheme via the New Payments Architecture program. Consequently, more merchants are expected to adopt instant payments and reap the benefits they offer for their business and customers.
Why instant payments for merchants?
- Clearing funds immediately gives merchants greater control of cash flow. It’s estimated that instant receipt of funds could help European businesses unlock €1.34-1.84 billion each year.
- Merchants will be able to accept payment for their goods and services without incurring interchange fees, which can reduce operational costs.
- Instant payments are crucial for eCommerce merchants that rely on fast delivery to be competitive. Payment reaches their account instantly with no settlement delays or chargebacks. They can safely release goods and services straight away.
“Payments need to keep pace with an increasingly digital society. In Europe, 90% of people aged 16 to 74 now use the internet, and 74% buy or order goods online,” commented Basant Singh, global head of ACI’s merchant business. “In our expanding ‘always on’ transactional world, giving and receiving money electronically should be as instantaneous as handing over cash. As a long-term champion of instant payments, ACI is ready to help European merchants and their customers take advantage of the instant payments opportunity in the U.K. and Europe.”