Global Real-Time Payments Market Trends, Forecast Report 2025-2037
Real-Time Payments Market size was over USD 28.5 billion in 2024 and is expected to cross USD 1.30 trillion by the end of 2037, growing at more than 34.9% CAGR during the forecast period i.e., between 2025-2037. In 2025, the industry size of real-time payments is assessed at USD 37.8 billion.
The market for real-time payments is rising rapidly. The growth is supported by a flexible supply chain and ongoing investments in technology. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for software publishing, which includes payment processing software (measured from April 2024 to April 2025), increased by over 2%, showing that producer costs are sustainable. On the other hand, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for communication services, which includes digital payment platforms, rose by around 2% in the 12 months ending in April 2025, suggesting that consumer prices are also rising at moderate levels.
There is also a significant import and export of goods produced by technology, including semiconductors, in the payment hardware. For instance, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. imported over USD 140 billion worth of electronic integrated circuits in 2023. In the RTP hardware assembly line, many raw materials are sourced directly from around the world to produce finished products. All these factors suggest a strong supply chain and trade component to support the growth of the real-time payments market.
Technology development in RTP is aided by noteworthy investments and a complex network of international trade. The Federal Reserve launched its FedNow Service in 2023, which processed over USD 35 billion in transactions by the first quarter of 2025. Increased investments to utilize AI and blockchain for transaction efficiency and fraud detection are observable. The National Science Foundation reported around USD 1.1 billion in federal research and development (R&D) grants for financial technology activities in 2024. The PPI for data processing services, a critical component for RTP platforms, increased by around 3.7% from November 2023 to November 2024. This is due to companies raising prices to cover higher production costs. The CPI for financial services, including payment processing, was over 2% for the same measurement period. Price increases are consistent with most consumer event frequency cost patterns.
Assembly lines producing RTP infrastructure rely on imported parts and subassemblies. According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the export price index for technology goods depicts a stable condition, unchanged in March 2025, which sets predictable trade costs above the production price. Resilience in the supply chain due to geopolitical issues has affected access to raw materials and input costs. However, underlying, sustained, new-product (and new-technology) development and relative stability in trade will allow the market to continue to grow. This will further enable financial services institutions to meet capacity and demand for the growing interest in instant payment solutions.
Real-Time Payments Sector: Growth Drivers and Challenges
Growth Drivers
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Growing consumer need for instant transactions: The demand for instant gratification for a variety of financial transactions is driven by consumer perception of seamless and instant payments. The World Bank’s Global Findex Database in 2023 identified that over 74% of adults across the world used digital payments in 2023. This demand is especially in e-commerce and retail, where Person-to-Business (P2B) transactions are set to account for around 52% share of the market in 2025. For instance, India’s UPI processed over 45 billion transactions in 2023, due to consumers’ desire for instant Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and P2B payment service usage.
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Rapid expansion of e-commerce and digital economies: The global e-commerce market is driving demand for RTP. B2B transactions will dominate the RTP landscape as digital shopping is trending. RTP solutions such as Stripe have delivered improvements in checkout conversion rates by over 15% for merchants. Cloud-based infrastructure that solves for scalability could help e-commerce companies scale their payment gateways. Additionally, Alipay also presses forward RTP to e-commerce in Asia-Pacific based on the growing digital economy.
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Growing cybersecurity concerns: Cybersecurity threats, including payment-related cybercrimes, require strong RTP security. The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) noted an over 120% increase in payment systems attacks in 2023. This created an increase in demand for encryption and multi-factor authentication. PayPal invested in encryption methods that resulted in fraud incidents lowering by around 24% in 2023. Businesses are partnering with cybersecurity firms to reduce costs. In Europe, GDPR compliance caused France to have over 35% lower cyber incident rate compared to the rest of Europe.
Technological Trends Shaping Real-Time Payments
Technological trends, including AI and machine learning for fraud detection, blockchain technology for secure transactions, cloud-based platforms, biometric authentication, and open banking APIs, are transforming the RTP ecosystem. Blockchain technology can promote transparency, and it is especially helpful for the telecommunications industry in cross-border payments. The trend of cloud-based platforms is being utilized by around 58% of real-time payments service providers, as it provides scalability. Biometric authentication is a useful trend that is being explored by more than 55% of banks. The finance industry leads not only in fraud detection and preventative technology but also in investing and interest. Telecommunications focuses on connectivity using blockchain technology, and manufacturing is focusing on cloud technologies for general supply chain improvements. All of these trends are a positive force for operational efficiencies as well as consumer trust.
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Trend |
Industry |
Statistic/Example |
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Blockchain |
Telecom |
29% of telecoms adopted blockchain for cross-border payments in 2024. |
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AI-Driven Fraud Detection |
Finance |
More than 52% of banks used AI in 2024, reducing fraud by around 74%. |
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Biometric Authentication |
Finance |
59% of banks implemented biometrics in 2024, reducing fraud by over 20%. |
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Open Banking APIs |
Telecom |
Open banking transactions reached over 800M in 2023. |
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Cloud-Based Platforms |
Manufacturing |
58% of RTP providers used cloud in 2025, improving efficiency by over 15%. |
Rising 5G Adoption and Its Impact on Real-Time Payments
The fast-paced introduction of 5G will change RTP business models. With low latency and high bandwidth, 5G enables instant transaction processes and accelerates financial services. Due to the availability of 5 G-supported digital wallets, the adoption of consumer applications like mobile payments in the Asia-Pacific drove real-time payments to grow by around 24%. In industrial IoT, 5G can benefit applications in the areas of manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain management. The examples surrounding the efficiency of adoption of 5G in required operational processes in industries provide an opportunity to unlock productivity and innovation across sectors.
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Sector |
5G Impact |
Statistic/Example |
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Manufacturing IoT |
Real-time automation |
Over 25% productivity increase in 2023. |
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Logistics IoT |
Improved tracking |
Around 19% delay reduction in 2024. |
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Supply Chain IoT |
Optimized inventory |
More than 40% of professionals accepted 5G in 2023. |
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RTP Business Models |
Enhanced fraud prevention |
Over 50% of banks used 5G APIs in 2023, reducing fraud by around 39%. |
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Consumer Applications |
Faster mobile payments |
More than 20% RTP growth in Asia-Pacific in 2023. |
Challenges
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Strict data protection guidelines: Data protection laws, like the EU’s GDPR and India’s DPDP Act, include compliance obligations. These obligations typically delay product launches and/or add to the overall costs. For instance, in 2022, Paytm delayed the expansion of its RTP in India by more than 4 months because of the DPDP Act compliance obligations. It incurred over 8M USD in compliance costs.
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Exorbitant cost of cybersecurity: Investments in cybersecurity, which are crucial to secure the RTP, are expensive. This makes it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to afford them due to a lack of capital. For instance, only around 1700 SMEs budgeted for cybersecurity in 2023, and about 49% of U.S. SMEs identified as having budget constraints.
Real-Time Payments Market: Key Insights
| Report Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
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Base Year |
2024 |
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Forecast Year |
2025-2037 |
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CAGR |
34.9% |
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Base Year Market Size (2024) |
USD 28.5 billion |
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Forecast Year Market Size (2037) |
USD 1.30 trillion |
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Regional Scope |
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Real-Time Payments Segmentation
Payment Type (Person-to-Person (P2P), Person-to-Business (P2B), Business-to-Person (B2P), Business-to-Business (B2B), Others (P2G, G2B, G2P))
The person-to-business (P2B) segment of the real-time payments market is anticipated to hold the largest revenue share by the end of 2037. The growth is driven by the expansion of e-commerce and burgeoning sales of retail e-commerce. The Federal Reserve indicates that P2B transactions were about 59% of all U.S. digital transactions in 2023. Government initiatives, such as India’s UPI, also support cashless economies. The ability to enhance user and merchant convenience improves factors that are driving P2B transactions.
Deployment Mode (Cloud, On-Premises)
The cloud segment in the real-time payments market is likely to account for a major revenue share in the market led by scalability and cost efficiency. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) found that in financial services, cloud adoption increased by over 25% between 2020 and 2023. Consequently, this supported the needs of real-time processing for RTP. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) also highlighted that worldwide cloud spending reached over USD 1 trillion in 2024. As per NIST, the flexible nature of cloud solutions allows for increased support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which is vital for scalable RTP.
Our in-depth analysis of the global real-time payments market includes the following segments:
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Payment Type |
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Deployment Mode |
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Component |
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Enterprise Size |
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End-Use Industry |
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Customize this ReportReal-Time Payments Industry - Regional Synopsis
North America Market Forecast
The North America real-time payments market is anticipated to gain a revenue share of 34.6% in 2037. The growth is supported by strong digital infrastructure as well as government support. The RTP market also benefits from the expansion of 5G. Additionally, consumer demand for instant payments and “buy now, pay later” will also support market growth, particularly in the e-commerce space. In Canada, ISED has invested in alleviating digital inequities in the country by subsidizing the service and helping with the addition of around 1.5 million + households connected to broadband in 2023. Furthermore, the adoption of AI for fraud detection by banks and government ICT spending is significant to the market expansion.
The U.S. real-time payments market yields great promise due to both 5G penetration and the growing usage of e-commerce. The NTIA's BEAD program connected the last 2 million households to broadband internet, which meant greater access to RTP. The cloud has gained momentum, as over half of smaller firms adopted it in 2025. Cross-border payments, along with NIST regulatory support, have helped smaller firms comply with RTP.
Asia Pacific Market Forecast
The Asia Pacific real-time payments market is projected to account for 33.3% of total global revenue in 2037. The growth is fueled by an increase in smartphone penetration, government-backed offerings, and 5G rollout. It is also encouraging that some governments are providing some level of regulatory support to the industry in terms of growth and adoption. In addition, India's real-time payment market is the fastest growing, driven by the rising acceptance of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and an increasing reliance on AI to detect fraud.
Companies Dominating the Real-Time Payments Landscape
The real-time payments market faces strong competition from technological and regional regulatory innovation. The U.S. has large players like Visa and Mastercard, each with global networks. China’s Alipay has a foothold with its mobile wallet. All stakeholders are engaging in their strategic initiatives. They are all taking a heavy interest in 5G and blockchain, giving them new options for speed and security.
Top 15 Global Manufacturers in Real-Time Payments Market
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Company Name |
Country of Origin |
Market Share (2025) |
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Visa Inc. |
USA |
15% |
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Mastercard Inc. |
USA |
14% |
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PayPal Holdings, Inc. |
USA |
10.2% |
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Fiserv, Inc. |
USA |
8.1% |
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ACI Worldwide |
USA |
6% |
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Alipay (Ant Group) |
China |
xx% |
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UnionPay International |
China |
xx% |
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NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) |
India |
xx% |
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Paytm (One97 Communications) |
India |
xx% |
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NEC Corporation |
Japan |
xx% |
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Samsung Pay (Samsung Electronics) |
South Korea |
xx% |
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LINE Pay (LINE Corporation) |
Japan |
xx% |
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Adyen N.V. |
Netherlands |
xx% |
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Worldpay (FIS) |
UK |
xx% |
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BPAY Group |
Australia |
xx% |
In the News
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In May 2025, Balance, the financial infrastructure platform for B2B commerce, announced the launch of a new real-time payments tool, offering retailers instant payment confirmation and simplifying the customer experience.
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In March 2025, Visa introduced intelligent commerce that enables AI agents to process payments on Visa’s network.
Author Credits: Abhishek Verma
- Report ID: 5157
- Published Date: May 29, 2025
- Report Format: PDF, PPT
