Machine learning, and the power of prediction that it provides, can enable financial institutions to redefine their processes, their products and services and, ultimately, their business models. The pace of change, as it relates to AI, is quickening. As costs to entry continue to converge with technological capability and computing power, businesses of all sizes, even the smallest of our credit unions, can capitalize on the power of AI. Advanced analytics provide business managers with data-driven insights to better understand their business processes and anticipate future needs.

The U.S. Faster Payments Council defines faster payments as “payments in which the transmission of the payment message and the availability of final funds to the payee occur in real time or near-real time, and on as near to a 24-hour and 7-day basis as possible.” Faster payments are credit push only and the transaction must originate from the funding source.

Real-time payments are one of the types of payments that fall under the definition of faster payments. It is currently the fastest-growing segment in the payments space. This growth comes from the increasing number of use cases companies are finding that can take advantage of immediate settlement.

Any account-to-account transfer that would benefit the sender or the receiver by having settlement for the payment take place instantly. On-demand payroll, account-to-account transfer, P2P and adding an option to existing billpay for immediate payments are just some of the use cases taking place. Small businesses can also benefit from real-time payments by receiving payments in seconds versus several days, and by being able to control the timing of outgoing payments.

The real-time payments space has been developing in the U.S. market over the last two years and adoption is expected to increase. Financial institutions must integrate their core banking system, mobile and online experiences to implement real-time payments. Systems such as the core and any payments orchestration front-ends must also operate with no planned downtime, which requires significant investment in time, money and resources. A simpler way for an FI to participate partially in real-time payments is via Receive-only – a mode where the financial institution is certified to participate in real-time payments but does not enable members to initiate payments nor receive or respond to request.

The ability to share data through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), allowing third-party services access to a bank’s customer data.

Fintechs require access to consumers’ banking data to provide a better user experience in the applications that the fintechs control and members use. For example, P2P apps access credit union members’ financial data for easier access to funds or authentication into the app and subsequent initiation of P2P transfers.