Fast payments - Enhancing the speed and availability of retail payments

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures has issued a report on Fast payments. So-called fast payment services make funds immediately available to the payee and can be used around-the-clock, on a 24/7 basis. As such, they overcome the limitations of traditional retail payment services, namely that usually the funds reach the beneficiary one or more days after the funds are debited in the payer's account, and that these can be initiated only in certain places at certain times.

The report sets out key characteristics of fast payments, takes stock of different initiatives in CPMI jurisdictions, analyses supply and demand factors that may foster or hinder their development, sets out the benefits and risks and, finally, examines the potential implications for different stakeholders, particularly central banks.