How do bank payments actually work?
Source: I one of the elected tech-reps on the The Faster Payment Task Force,a Fed-chartered initiative to create a real-time improved bank transfer system, like the one in the UK. I also work at Dwolla, a payment platform that has exclusively focused on modernizing the backend ACH system for over 5 years, as well as created our own real-time system for banks (See: FiSync).<p>There&#x27;s a lot of good, and bad, information here. It&#x27;s all impossible to tackle, so I&#x27;m going to point to the good things the US has going for it. (Worth getting other Fed Fast members and doing an AMA? Let me know):<p>1) As many mentioned, Same-Day ACH is coming (slowly but surely). Although not real-time, it will be a helpful stopgap as more real-time systems come online at financial institutions (see: #3). Combined with new Payment API Platforms, like Dwolla, many of us are enabling meaningful access and adding flexibility  to an otherwise outdated platform. This will position  platforms to take advantage of these new timeframes when they start arriving late 2016 and 2017.
2) The major ACH operators, The Federal Reserve and the bank-owned The Clearing House, are both making significant investments in their tech stack to enable real-time capabilities (The Fed just inked a $17M deal with IBM to update their software and capabilities, and TCH signed a deal with UK Faster Payments Provider, VocaLink).
3) The Faster Payment Task Force is an unprecedented market-led initiative, which despite all odds, that actually making meaningful progress on aligning the criteria and expectations for an interoperable real-time system. This is HUGE. Imagine cramming +300 lifelong competitors, embattled legal adversaries, entrenched interests, and long-standing rivalries in one room to debate the future of a trillion dollar landscape. Now imagine them to agreeing to create a better system. And I&#x27;m not just talking about improvements in speed, but better security, flexibility, and capabilities that could enable the next wave of commerce. Keep your eyes on <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;fedpaymentsimprovement.org&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;fedpaymentsimprovement.org&#x2F;</a>, big news is coming in the next few weeks.