The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payments (RTP) network has seen its transaction volume double over the past 18 months, reaching one billion transactions earlier this year. A significant factor driving this growth is an increase in its transaction limit. Since February, RTP now supports payments of up to $10 million each.

In order to maintain competitiveness, The Federal Reserve’s instant payment service, FedNow, is also enhancing its limits. Effective from July,
starting next month,
FedNow will introduce a new $1 million cap for higher-value credit transfers, covering business-to-business supplier payments, real estate transactions, and payroll funding. The standard transaction limit will remain at $100,000.

Banks Favor Higher Transaction Limits

Higher transaction limits have significantly boosted the adoption of instant payment services. According to a study by Red Compass Labs,
over 80% of senior payments professionals
at U.S. banks report that raising the RTP transaction limit to $10 million has improved its appeal. Smaller banks, specifically those with between 500 and 2,000 employees, are even more positive, with
88%
saying increased limits have helped. Additionally,
84% of these smaller banks believe
that raising FedNow’s cap will enhance its appeal further.

The Clearing House has outlined several use cases for the new higher limit, including commercial and high-value residential real estate transactions, merchant settlements, supply chain payments, and cash consolidation. RTP’s first $10 million transaction was processed on behalf of Computershare, a global transfer agent, to another of its accounts.

Consumer Demand Grows

Instant payment services are experiencing increasing demand from various sectors. Red Compass’s research indicates that nearly half of the surveyed banks are currently dealing with significant pressure from corporate clients—three times more than in last year’s survey. Mid-sized banks, particularly those with 2,000 to 10,000 employees, are the most impacted.

Interestingly,
43% of retail customers
now express overwhelming demand for instant payments, compared to just
11%
last year. This trend is particularly pronounced among large banks—those with over 50,000 employees—are facing the most intense pressure.

Many banks are also growing concerned about competition from fintechs, neobanks, and services such as Zelle. Almost
two-thirds of the largest banks
state that competitive pressures significantly influence their decisions regarding instant payment services.