Report Description

In many ways, real-time has become the norm for any new payment platform implementation. Growing customer expectations, shrinking decision windows and increasing data velocity are all demanding a shift to real-time. At a basic level, real-time payments allow retail and commercial customers to initiate and clear payments and collections more quickly. This enables invoices to be paid faster and individuals to have more immediate access to money; increasingly important as the world starts to move away from cash.

Much of the real-time payment implementation cost falls on the banks, governments, and the financial industry, thus, inevitably, most of the research into real-time payments has focused on potential new revenue streams and business models for banks to serve traditional retail and commercial customers. Although this research is valuable, it overlooks an essential segment of the population: the underbanked and financially excluded. Spread all around the world and in many different life stages, these are the individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that usually cannot count on the traditional financial industry to fulfill their financial needs and are forced to rely on informal networks.

Yet this is precisely the segment of the population that could benefit from realtime payments. To address this need, Vocalink, a key provider of real-time payment solutions has partnered with Kapronasia, a leading Asian market research provider, to bring you this unique look at the future of real-time payments and financial inclusion in Asia. Financial Inclusion Accelerated examines how real-time payments are being used globally to provide a more seamless banking experience for the financially excluded.