Real-time retail payments or faster payments: Evidence from select countries on consumer attitudes and the importance of dependability

To date, some 54 countries have access to real-time retail payments systems (RTRPS). With many other systems currently under development, this number could exceed 100 in the next few years. Many countries without a widely available and accessible infrastructure for payment acceptance are leveraging RTRPS to build applications that employ QR codes or other means to transform payments. Many other countries have also been leveraging the RTRPS infrastructure to integrate e-money institutions or FinTechs into the payments ecosystem, to drive competition and innovation and to improve financial inclusion. In this way, faster and real-time payments systems are becoming an increasingly important critical national infrastructure and hence vital for enabling economic development. Thus, as economies leverage these systems, it is essential that they be dependable. This paper investigates the dependability of faster payments based on market research findings from six countries — three with developed economies (Australia, Japan and the UK) and three with developing economies (India, Mexico and Thailand). Based on the findings, the paper discusses policy implications and suggests approaches to implementing real-time payment systems.