Smaller banks and credit unions are also seeing the need for real-time payments and are are starting to sign up for the RTP network provided by The Clearing House. Avidia Bank, a Hudson, Mass.-based bank, has just signed up for the RTP network.

For Avidia, the decision to sign up for RTP was fueled by the needs of its clients.

“Providing real-time payments is an important step for us, allowing us to deliver important new functionality to our customers,” said Robert Conery, chief operating officer at Avidia Bank. “As existing payment channels evolve and access to faster-payment alternatives become ubiquitous in the digital era, we shall leverage this opportunity by partnering with TCH to provide products to both local and national markets.”

Offering cutting-edge payment services was a priority for Avidia.

“Every bank has priorities,” Steve Ledford, senior vice president of product and strategy at New York City-based TCH, told Digital Transactions News. “At Avidia, they are very progressive in their view that payments is a core product and a way they can differentiate themselves.”

He added that other smaller banks and credit union “are in the pipeline” but Avidia Bank was the first to announce its plan to join the RTP network..

According to Ledford, the fact that the RTP network is attracting small banks is “absolutely a good sign.” He added that the RTP network is “a network for all financial institutions, not just members of The Clearing House.”

As Digital Transactions News reports, “TCH says 15 financial institutions are live so far on [its] RTP network, which can now access more than half of all U.S. demand-deposit accounts, with a goal of reaching all such accounts by next year."

Read the entire Digital Transactions News article.