Latest news with #SmarterFasterPayments
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Walmart drives toward instant payments
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. Walmart, the biggest U.S. retail chain, is increasingly eager to offer its customers instant payment options as it seeks to speed up services and keep costs low. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer has also long been intent on finding ways to avoid interchange fees incurred every time a customer uses a credit or debit card. Last September, Walmart said it would begin offering customers a pay-by-bank option to avoid those fees, ultimately with a real-time option. While the retailer said last year that the instant option might be available this year, it could take longer, based on comments from a Walmart executive this week at Nacha's Smarter Faster Payments conference in New Orleans. 'We're really bullish on instant payments and hoping to move forward with them within the next year,' Sarah Arnio, Walmart's director of digital payments, said Wednesday during a panel discussion focused on real-time payments. Real-time payments have been around since 2017 thanks to The Clearing House starting the RTP network that year, but only some banks have adopted the new tool, and those that have signed up have had tepid uptake in the marketplace. The launch in 2023 of the Federal Reserve's competing instant system, FedNow, has boosted adoption by banks, but real world use remains limited. Walmart last year gave customers the option to sign up on its website to be able to pay directly from a bank account, moving those payments via low-cost, automated clearing house transfers, also known as ACH payments. But ACH is a 'stepping stone' to faster instant payments, Arnio told the payments, banking and fintech professionals attending the conference. 'We at Walmart really have a drive internally to speed up everything,' she said. Walmart is seeking to speed up checkout and processing of online orders, she explained. Recently, it also set a goal of delivering groceries to 95% of customers within three hours by the end of the year, she added. For now, though, real-time payment obstacles remain. For instance, RTP doesn't support e-commerce payments and while FedNow does, its process includes unwanted friction, Arnio said. 'We have the foundation to get there, but there's still kind of, obviously, a few roadblocks or hurdles that we have to overcome,' she said. Walmart isn't the only retailer embracing instant payments. 'The momentum is here – it's growing,' she said. 'We're definitely at a tipping point where this is only going to grow even further. While the lack of bank interest had been a hurdle in the past, she predicts retailers will plow through it. 'We're going down the path of instant payments, whether we have all the financial institutions or not,' she predicted. The big bank owners of The Clearing House have signed up for RTP, but their smaller rivals have been more reluctant. Although FedNow appeals more to community and regional banks, it still has onboarded only about 1,300 of the country's 9,100 financial institutions. Walmart customers, who tend to use debit cards over credit cards, are conscious of transparency with respect to their spending so real-time payments could be a positive for them, Arnio explained. 'They want visibility into their account,' she said. They also want to receive refunds fast. The most common customer call to the retailer's call centers is about when a refund is coming, Arnio said. 'Having that real time refund in their account, that is going to be a game-changer for these customers, and so I think that is going to drive a lot of adoption,' she said. In terms of Walmart's payments to suppliers or other businesses, real-time payments has been a bit of a tough sell when Arnio occasionally asks her treasury colleagues if they've considered using RTP or FedNow, she said. That's because they're more familiar with the low-cost ACH option, but also because bankers don't highlight the real-time alternative, she said. 'They're not hearing about it from their banking relationship partners,' Arnio said. 'It's just not something that's being pushed from the bank side, so that's where I think there's a bit of a disconnect.' Another panelist, Michael Thomas, who is U.S. Bank's head of instant payments, noted that some companies seem apprehensive about faster payments enabling faster fraud, but he contended that isn't the case so far. 'There's really low rates of fraud,' said Thomas, noting that is somewhat related to the limited use cases so far. 'We have a lot of education still to do.' More than fearing fraud, companies should fear missing out on the phenomenon, because real-time payments will become a competitive advantage, Thomas said. Eventually, they'll also be useful for cross-border transactions too, he added. But companies and banks have yet to make the investments in technology and processes that are needed to build the real-time payments realm. Specifically, financial institutions must sign up to send payments because many are equipped only to receive payments, said another panelist, U.S. Faster Payments Council Executive Director Reed Luhtanen. 'You have to be figuring out what's your pathway to get to send, because that's where you really unlock a lot of this value,' Luhtanen told the conference attendees. Recommended Reading FedNow draws 1,300 financial firms Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Phixius by Nacha Expands Bank Account Validation Coverage With ValidiFI
NEW ORLEANS, April 27, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phixius by Nacha—a secure, peer-to-peer payment information network—announced today that ValidiFI is live on the Phixius network as an additional provider of bank account validation. Phixius now offers multiple providers of account validation, expanding the coverage of account validation data for Phixius users. "Phixius provides the connective tissue to reach multiple account validation service providers, addressing gaps in coverage for validating U.S. bank account information," said Rob Unger, Managing Director of ACH Network Development at Nacha. "With multiple data sources, Phixius assists organizations in mitigating payment fraud, helping reduce ACH returns, and improving the quality of ACH transactions." "This partnership with Phixius enhances the distribution of ValidiFI's account validation solutions," said John Gordon, CEO of ValidiFI. "Our offerings provide extensive coverage of bank accounts, combined with intelligence to identify fraud and assess risk." With this new integration with ValidiFI, Phixius is enhancing its value proposition to users to: Validate bank account information in the United States instantaneously. Mitigate payment risk when sending and receiving payments to new accounts. Comply with the Nacha Operating Rules & Guidelines, including the requirement to validate account information for Internet-initiated ACH debits (WEB debits). Phixius streamlines the validation process by: Allowing users to access multiple data sources through a single, standard API gateway. Enabling connectivity to multiple data sources without centralized data aggregation. Maintaining strong data security practices through SOC 2 Type 2 certification for security, confidentiality, and privacy. To learn more about Phixius and schedule a free demo, visit Attendees at Smarter Faster Payments, taking place in New Orleans April 27 to 30, can stop by the Nacha Booth No. 844 or the ValidiFI booth No. 913 to learn more about the partnership and get a demo. About Nacha Nacha governs the thriving ACH Network, the payment system that drives safe, smart, and fast Direct Deposits and Direct Payments with the capability to reach all U.S. bank and credit union accounts. There were 33.6 billion ACH Network payments made in 2024, valued at $86.2 trillion. Through problem-solving and consensus-building among diverse payment industry stakeholders, Nacha advances innovation and interoperability in the payments system. Nacha develops rules and standards, provides industry solutions, and delivers education, accreditation, and advisory services. About ValidiFI ValidiFI is the leading provider of predictive bank account and payment intelligence. Leveraging the Omni Platform, ValidiFI empowers organizations and financial institutions with actionable insights to help validate bank accounts, detect fraud, and assess credit risk. By analyzing the intricate connections between bank accounts, consumers, and payment performance, ValidiFI offers a more comprehensive view. ValidiFI serves as a trusted partner, unlocking the power of predictive bank account and payment intelligence through credentialled and non-credentialed solutions, enabling more confident transactions. For more information, visit View source version on Contacts Dan RothNacha571-579-0720media@ Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Wire
27-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Phixius by Nacha Expands Bank Account Validation Coverage With ValidiFI
NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phixius by Nacha—a secure, peer-to-peer payment information network—announced today that ValidiFI is live on the Phixius network as an additional provider of bank account validation. Phixius now offers multiple providers of account validation, expanding the coverage of account validation data for Phixius users. "Phixius provides the connective tissue to reach multiple account validation service providers, addressing gaps in coverage for validating U.S. bank account information," said Rob Unger, Managing Director of ACH Network Development at Nacha. "With multiple data sources, Phixius assists organizations in mitigating payment fraud, helping reduce ACH returns, and improving the quality of ACH transactions.' 'This partnership with Phixius enhances the distribution of ValidiFI's account validation solutions,' said John Gordon, CEO of ValidiFI. 'Our offerings provide extensive coverage of bank accounts, combined with intelligence to identify fraud and assess risk." With this new integration with ValidiFI, Phixius is enhancing its value proposition to users to: Validate bank account information in the United States instantaneously. Mitigate payment risk when sending and receiving payments to new accounts. Comply with the Nacha Operating Rules & Guidelines, including the requirement to validate account information for Internet-initiated ACH debits (WEB debits). Phixius streamlines the validation process by: Allowing users to access multiple data sources through a single, standard API gateway. Enabling connectivity to multiple data sources without centralized data aggregation. Maintaining strong data security practices through SOC 2 Type 2 certification for security, confidentiality, and privacy. To learn more about Phixius and schedule a free demo, visit Attendees at Smarter Faster Payments, taking place in New Orleans April 27 to 30, can stop by the Nacha Booth No. 844 or the ValidiFI booth No. 913 to learn more about the partnership and get a demo. About Nacha Nacha governs the thriving ACH Network, the payment system that drives safe, smart, and fast Direct Deposits and Direct Payments with the capability to reach all U.S. bank and credit union accounts. There were 33.6 billion ACH Network payments made in 2024, valued at $86.2 trillion. Through problem-solving and consensus-building among diverse payment industry stakeholders, Nacha advances innovation and interoperability in the payments system. Nacha develops rules and standards, provides industry solutions, and delivers education, accreditation, and advisory services. About ValidiFI ValidiFI is the leading provider of predictive bank account and payment intelligence. Leveraging the Omni Platform, ValidiFI empowers organizations and financial institutions with actionable insights to help validate bank accounts, detect fraud, and assess credit risk. By analyzing the intricate connections between bank accounts, consumers, and payment performance, ValidiFI offers a more comprehensive view. ValidiFI serves as a trusted partner, unlocking the power of predictive bank account and payment intelligence through credentialled and non-credentialed solutions, enabling more confident transactions. For more information, visit
