As we reach the midpoint of 2026, one thing is clear: faster payments continue to gain momentum across the U.S. payments ecosystem. What began as a vision for immediate, seamless, secure money movement is increasingly becoming a true everyday reality for financial institutions, business and consumers alike.
The first half of the year has brought several notable advancements. In May, The Clearing House's (TCH) RTP® Network recorded its highest single-day transaction volume and value to date, processing 2.27 million payments totaling $8.62 billion in a single day. Meanwhile, the FedNow® Service, which will celebrate its third anniversary in July, has also experienced remarkable growth, expanding from 35 participating financial institutions at launch to now approaching 1,800. These achievements highlight the growing momentum behind faster payments and reflect increasing enthusiasm among financial institutions, businesses, and consumers for the speed, efficiency, and innovation faster payments provide.
At the same time, the industry continues to make progress toward faster cross-border payments. In April, the Federal Reserve proposed changes that would allow banks and credit unions to use intermediaries when sending funds through the FedNow Service, creating new opportunities to support faster international payment use cases in the future. And in June, TCH announced a bank-led on-chain initiative that will allow for the clearing and settlement of tokenized deposits between banks, providing a path for more seamless cross-border transactions, among other innovative digital payment opportunities.
Equally important are the advancements being made in faster payments fraud mitigation and risk management. In late April, the FedNow Service launched its new network intelligence API, providing participating institutions with network-level insights that can help identify potential risks before a payment is sent. Innovations like these demonstrate that speed and security can advance together, helping to build and maintain confidence in instant payments.
These industry developments align closely with the ongoing work of the U.S. Faster Payments Council. Recent and upcoming releases of guidance, reports, and blogs on Fraud Dispute Resolution, stablecoins and cross-border payments, and more highlight our focus on strengthening trust, certainty, and interoperability across the faster payments ecosystem – all critical foundations for continued growth.
The progress we've seen so far in 2026 reinforces the fact that faster payments are more than just about moving money faster. They are about creating a payments ecosystem that is more efficient, secure, accessible, and responsive to the needs of the industry. Through collaboration among financial institutions, payment providers, networks, standards organizations, and industry groups, we are continuing to move closer to that vision every day.
As we look toward the second half of the year, I’m excited about the opportunities ahead and grateful for the contributions of our Members and the greater industry, whose expertise and engagement continue to help shape the future of faster payments.