The Clearing House’s RTP Network Grows with Increased Transaction Limits

Over the past 18 months, the transaction volume on The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payments (RTP) network has doubled, reaching one billion transactions earlier this year. One key factor contributing to this growth is an increase in its transaction limit. Since February, RTP now supports individual payments of up to $10 million each.

In response to this development, The Federal Reserve’s instant payment service, FedNow, is also increasing its limits to remain competitive with RTP. Starting in July, FedNow will introduce a new transaction cap of $1 million for higher-value credit transfers, including transactions like business-to-business supplier payments, real estate deals, and payroll account funding. The default limit will stay at $100,000.

Banks Favor Higher Limits

Rising transaction limits have significantly enhanced the adoption of instant payment services. According to Red Compass Labs research, over 80% of senior payments professionals from U.S. banks report that increasing the RTP transaction limit to $10 million has improved its attractiveness. Smaller banks, with between 500 and 2,000 employees, are even more supportive, with 88% saying the new limits have helped. Additionally, another 84% believe raising FedNow’s cap will further boost its appeal.

The Clearing House has identified several use cases that could benefit from the increased limit. These include commercial and high-value residential real estate payments, merchant settlements, supply chain payments, and cash consolidation. RTP’s first $10 million transaction was made on behalf of Computershare, a global transfer agent, to another of its company accounts.

Consumer Demand Surges

The demand for instant payment services is on the rise. Red Compass research indicates that almost half of the surveyed banks are now experiencing high demand from corporate clients—three times the percentage reported in last year’s survey. Mid-sized banks, especially those with between 2,000 and 10,000 employees, are facing significant pressure due to this growing demand.

Perhaps more surprisingly, retail consumers are also driving increased demand for instant payments. While only 11% of respondents reported overwhelming demand from retail customers in last year’s survey, that figure has surged to 43% this year. This trend is most pronounced among the largest banks—those with more than 50,000 employees—who are under the greatest pressure.

Many banks are also increasingly worried about competition from fintechs, neobanks, and services like Zelle. Two-thirds of the largest banks say their instant payment strategies are significantly influenced by these competitive pressures.