The RTP network, operated by The Clearing House (TCH), is a payment rail that provides instant settlement of funds. This technology enables the ability to immediately send, receive and request real-time payments for businesses and consumers.
Real-Time Payments
Transform your business in real-time with the RTP® network.
Real-Time Payments through the RTP network is the future of money movement. It’s designed for the modern economy. Access immediate funds, automated processing and rich payment and remittance data 24-hours a day. RTP allows you to take control of your money movement and drive transformation in your front-office customer experience and back-office operations by elevating your current tools and capabilities.
Move your business funds safer, faster and smarter.
Your business moves in real time, and so should your payments. RTP is more than just a payment platform. It enables better business across a wide range of functions through a secure payment system. Send, receive and request immediate payments with an end-to-end payment solution that streamlines the experience for customers, vendors and employees.
Transfer money in real-time.
With RTP, payment experiences are modernized with near-instant payment confirmations, reduced reconciliation costs and improved cash flow.
Through the RTP network, your business can:
- Send money: Disburse near-instant funds with immediate availability to businesses or consumers, even on nights, weekends and holidays.
- Request payment: Initiate a Request for Payment (RfP), which sends a data-rich digital bill through the receiver’s bank that allows an immediate payment back via the RTP network.
Discover RTP benefits with a payment network built for modern commerce.
It’s immediate.
Funds are immediately available to the receiving person or business.
It’s certain.
Every payment is final, irrevocable and confirmed within seconds.
It’s easy.
Initiating payments is simple, ensuring an optimal customer experience.
It's reliable.
Fast and secure transactions mean more visibility and control over cash flow.
It’s data-rich.
Rich payment and remittance data reduces manual reconciliation.
It’s always on.
Transactions can be completed anytime – 24/7 – including weekends and holidays.
Grow your organization with a suite of U.S. Bank-backed payment services.
As one of the first banks to initiate a Real-Time Payment, we've built a highly scalable payments infrastructure from the ground up. To help you build an end-to-end experience, we stay on the leading edge and always put your needs at the center of our solutions.
Connect Real-Time Payments to your business
- Choose to connect through API, file transmission or our SinglePoint® online cash management portal.
- Optimize RTP with comprehensive solutions like U.S. Bank AP Optimizer®, Pay Smart and Payee Choice.
Fund your business with Real-Time Payments
- Free up available credit by making payments up to $1MM with your commercial card program.
- Use Everyday Funding, to manage daily business without delay, within hours of a batch submission, seven days a week.
Real-time applications made easier.
Businesses paying consumers
- Consumer refunds or rebates
- Immediate pay for short-term workers
Businesses paying businesses
- Supplier payment on delivery
- A/R and A/P payments
Consumers paying businesses
- Bill payments
- Late payments
Track the rapid rise of instant payments.
Adoption of instant payments through the RTP network and the FedNow Service is on the rise, according to our survey of more than 1,400 senior financial leaders at large organizations around the nation. Forty-two percent of survey respondents already use instant payments, and that number is expected to hit 68 percent by 2025. Dive into what’s driving the rise of instant
Gain insights into how Real-Time Payments transform money movement.
The instant payment ecosystem is evolving quickly.
The RTP network and FedNow are changing the way companies, government agencies and consumers and citizens transmit payments.
Explore 3 ways to apply real-time payments.
There are practical ways to benefit from the value of real-time payments, including receiving funds, sending funds and moving money faster.
Discover how Request for Payments.
New technology through the RTP network lets businesses send digital bills and receive payments back immediately, which accelerates billing.
Find answers to your questions about Real-Time Payments.
Real-time payments provide efficient money movement solutions, including immediate access to funds, a streamlined process for fund collection and time-sensitive transaction support.
The RTP network, established by The Clearing House in 2017, currently delivers immediate payments and rich data 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, reaching 65 percent of U.S. DDAs. The RTP network continues to experience rapid growth in transaction and payment volume.
The FedNow Service was developed by the U.S. Federal Reserve and was launched in July 2023. The FedNow Service will greatly expand the network for instant payments up to $500,000 over the next few years, particularly with smaller regional banks and credit unions.
Leveraging the RTP network today prepares you for expansion of instant payment options once the FedNow Service becomes available. In the future, you will be able to send and receive these real-time, instant payments seamlessly across both networks by leveraging intelligent routing capabilities to determine the optimal network for each payment.
Real-time payments operate on a different network than ACH. The RTP network, which was built for the modern era, allows for near-instant funds confirmation. Same-day ACH payments clear in batches, settling upon payment clearance at set times during the day. ACH only operates during standard banking hours, not after hours or on weekends and holidays. ACH originators do not receive confirmation from the receiving bank that the payment has posted; if an item cannot be posted it is returned to the originator.
The general transaction limit on the RTP network is $1 million. All federally insured U.S. depository institutions are eligible to use the RTP network.
RTP and Zelle® are two forms of immediate, 24/7/365, final settlement payments that operate on different payment rails. RTP works best when you have or can easily obtain a payee’s account and routing number, while Zelle® payments work best when you have a payee’s email or mobile phone number and prefer not to obtain their account information. If a payee’s bank participates in the RTP network, they can receive a payment without any action; while payees need to enroll their email or mobile phone number in the Zelle® Network to receive payments.
Talk to an instant payments expert.
Reach out to our team anytime to talk about instant payments and what we can do to help you understand, adopt and benefit from the latest in payment technology.
Start of disclosure content