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OMAHA, Neb. – Global real-time payments growth has reached sustainable levels with 266.2 billion real-time payment transactions in 2023 – a year-over-year (YoY) growth of 42.2%, according to Prime Time for Real- Time 2024. Time report published by ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global leader in business-critical, real-time payments software, in collaboration with GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
While previous reports have highlighted the economic benefits of real-time payments and global consumer adoption, this year’s report – now in its fifth edition – takes a deep dive into some of the world’s leading real-time payments markets and highlights the factors that have made it possible for these countries , build successful end-to-end real-time payment ecosystems. The report also shows that many of the newer market entrants around the world are quickly catching up. Lawmakers and central banks around the world are pushing for adoption, determined to harness the economic benefits of real-time payments and promote financial inclusion among their citizens.
Important insights at a glance
- Globally, real-time transactions are forecast to reach 575.1 billion by 2028, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.7% over 2023-2028. By 2028, real-time payments are expected to account for 27.1% of all electronic payments worldwide.
- India continues to dominate the global real-time payments market with 129.3 billion transactions in 2023 – more than the rest of the world’s top 10 real-time payments markets combined. 84% of all electronic payments made in India are now real-time.
- Brazil recorded a remarkable 77.9% year-on-year growth in 2023, with 37.4 billion real-time payment transactions. Brazil is the undisputed leader in real-time payments in Latin America, accounting for 75% of all transactions in the region. Other Latin American countries are pushing ahead with initiatives to modernize real-time payments, seeking to replicate Brazil’s success. Peru and Colombia are projected to have the highest CAGRs in the region during 2023-2028 at 51.2% and 42.6%, respectively.
- Asia Pacific (APAC) is the largest real-time payments market with 185.8 billion transactions in 2023, accounting for 24.0% of all electronic payments in the region. With four of the five largest real-time payments markets by volume, the APAC region is expected to record over 351.5 billion real-time transactions by 2028, representing a compound annual growth rate of 13.6% over 2023-2028.
- The Middle East is the fastest growing real-time payments market in the world. Oman, Kuwait and Qatar have all launched programs in 2023, joining more established regional players such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The 2023-2028 CAGR for the region is 28.8% – transactions are expected to increase from 855 million to 3.0 billion by 2028.
- The European Union (EU) Instant Payments Regulation, adopted in February 2024, is expected to increase instant payment volumes across the European payments area, including the 27 EU member states. Instant payments are forecast to account for 13% of all electronic payments in Europe by 2028, up from 8% in 2023.
- North America is a key growth market to watch – particularly due to the launch of the FedNow service in the US in 2023 – with a forecast compound annual growth rate of 27.1% for 2023-2028.
- Nigeria is the undisputed leader in real-time payments in Africa, another key growth market. The country recorded 7.9 billion transactions in 2023; Real-time payments accounted for an impressive 82.1% of all electronic payments in 2023.
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Market Deep Dives: Lessons from the Most Successful Real-Time Payments Markets
This year’s report, for the first time, takes a deep dive into five of the most successful real-time payments markets globally – India, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Netherlands – and analyzes the driving factors and use cases that have enabled these countries to develop thriving real-time payments ecosystems the power to transform businesses and improve consumers’ lives.
- The power of collaboration: Whether through government mandate or industry consensus, real-time payment systems thrive through active collaboration. Financial institutions, payment service providers, central banks and government institutions, merchants and third parties must work together to build and operate successful real-time payment ecosystems.
- Open and inclusive payment ecosystems: The most successful real-time payments markets foster fintech-rich environments. The research shows that fintechs and smaller banks are playing an increasingly important role in the real-time payments ecosystems of the world’s leading markets. Larger banks will need to rethink their strategies and forge new partnerships with fintechs to remain competitive in the fast-growing real-time payments markets around the world.
- Strong incentives for traders: Merchant acceptance and adoption are critical to the growth of real-time payments. For example, the Indian government eliminated merchant discount rates and issued QR codes for UPI acceptance to all merchants, actively encouraging merchants of all sizes to accept UPI payments.
- Constant flow of new, user-friendly use cases: Real-time payments thrive in countries where innovative use cases have gained mass adoption among consumers or businesses. Whether it’s utility or tax bills, train tickets or road tolls, subscription payments or weekly grocery shopping, consumers in the most successful markets now pay in real time.
- Real-time cross-border payment connections are the next big frontier: Efforts to extend real-time to cross-border payments are finally paying off, and Asian countries are leading the way. Payments using India’s popular UPI system can now be made in Malaysia, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and France, and DuitNow users in Malaysia can now make real-time QR code payments from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and China.
- Real-time payment fraud: Generative AI is changing the nature and scale of fraud attacks, but the industry is rising to the challenge. Consumer rights initiatives, education programs and government interventions – combined with new AI-based technologies and anti-fraud methods – are beginning to have an impact.
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“This year’s report highlights the key success factors that have enabled some countries to accelerate the modernization of real-time payments and deliver tremendous benefits for consumers and businesses,” said Craig Ramsey, global head of real-time payments at ACI Worldwide. “Modern real-time payments require collaboration and encourage a new generation of market participants with whom banks can either compete or cooperate – often both.” Even the world’s most successful real-time payment systems, particularly those in India and Brazil, have use cases that are proving unimaginably popular have proven.”
“Real-time payments – and especially cross-border payments – are the future. They eliminate payment difficulties, increase liquidity in the financial system and ultimately promote economic growth and financial inclusion,” said Debbie Guerra, Chief Product Officer of ACI Worldwide. “Banks should consider whether they are truly maximizing the real-time rails in their market and whether keeping their exposure to a minimum also means limiting their potential share in the future of payments.”
Note for editors: You can find all the important figures and facts at a glance in our Prime time for the 2024 real-time infographic.
About ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide is a global leader in business-critical, real-time payment software. Our proven, secure and scalable software solutions enable leading enterprises, fintechs and financial disruptors to process and manage digital payments, enable omni-commerce payments, present and process invoice payments, and manage fraud and risk. We combine our global footprint with a local presence to drive real-time digital transformation of payments and commerce.
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