Payment Issuers and Acquirers to Spend $3.1 Billion on Real-Time Payments in 2023

Payment issuers and acquirers are prioritizing IT investments towards real-time payments in 2023, with most merchants interested in accepting real-time payments, according to Omdia. Their new report has found that 23% of issuers and acquirers indicated real-time payments are their top priority in terms of product development.

Payment issuers and acquirers will spend $3.1 billion on real-time payments in 2023 globally. IT spending is projected to reach $4.1 billion in 2027, exhibiting a 6.8% CAGR over the 2022-2027 period. 23% of issuers and acquirers indicated real-time payments are their top priority in terms of product development, ahead of debit and credit cards, and digital wallets. Bill payment, account-to-account (A2A), and cross-border SME payments are seen as the top three products enabled through real-time payments.

Nearly four in 10 payments issuers and acquirers see open banking payments in their top three opportunities, yet greater use of the cloud is required to increase capacity and support the open APIs ecosystem. The vast majority of merchants (80%) stated they would be interested in accepting real-time payments in-store while more than three-quarters would be interested in accepting real-time payments online.

Regulatory initiatives are driving major change in the payment industry with the development of real-time payment infrastructure in many markets urging banks to invest in new systems. Open banking maturity and fintech partnerships will see alternative payment services grow in familiarity for consumers and businesses in 2023.

Ultimately, real-time payments will evolve into a global system making payments and remittances more accessible. Coupled with this all kinds of traditional non-bank actors are now keying in on payments and financial transactions as the lynchpin of a broader technological ecosystem with superapps in Asia, especially, appealing to younger generations.

“For vendors, strategic partnerships with financial institutions and fintechs will be critical to accelerate the adoption of alternative payments, recognizing that the field of potential clients now includes telcos, retailers, and other commercial businesses moving into the payments space,“ said Ouliana Smith, Senior Research Analyst in Omdia’s Financial Services team.