yStats: Instant payments will account for 8% of total transactions in China by 2025

The COVID-19 crisis further strengthens the trend towards real-time payments in Europe and the United States

Real-time payment schemes have received particular attention from governments, businesses and consumers during the COVID-19 crisis. US corporate decision-makers cite the main reason for using this payment processing method as providing high accuracy in cash flow management. According to a forecast by Juniper Research in September 2020, the share of instant payments in China's total transactions will reach 8% in 2025. In Europe, the value of real-time payment transactions is expected to account for 38% of the global total. The European Central Bank has set a goal to include all payment providers in the real-time payment system across the euro area by the end of 2021. In addition, most European markets, including the UK and the Netherlands, have seen significant growth in real-time money transfers in 2020. According to Tata Consultancy Services in May 2020, the Nordic countries have developed an action plan to introduce real-time payments within the framework of the P27 (New Banking Project) program from mid-2021.

Real-time payments accelerate in Asia amid coronavirus pandemic

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, most countries in the Asia region have seen an increase in the amount and volume of payments made through their local RTGS systems. Japan’s Core Time System experienced a significant spike in March 2020, and the numbers have since stabilized. The Philippines’ InstaPay saw a 57% increase in mobile payment transactions to 4.6 million in May 2020, the highest ever, The Manila Times reported in November 2020, citing the BSP. This positive development is likely to continue in the near future as China, Singapore, Malaysia, and a few other economies are expected to see significant growth in real-time payment penetration by 2024.

It is predicted that South Korea's real-time transaction volume will reach 7.7 billion by 2024, an increase of 6.9% from 5.5 billion in 2019.