risk intelligence

Instant payments

Effective, efficient screening and verification to pinpoint potential risk in instant payments.

Screen and verify instant payments quickly, and deliver a customer-first experience

Instant payments, sometimes referred to as real-time payments or faster payments are electronic credit transfers that are available 24/7 and make funds available in a payee's account within seconds of a payment order being made. They are called by various names globally - Faster Payments Service (UK), United Payments Interface (India), FedNow (US) and so on.

What are instant payments?

What is sanction screening

Instant payments have emerged as a transformative force in the financial landscape and have facilitated a faster and more secure alternative to traditional credit transfer, revolutionising the way individuals and organisations interact financially.

According to the Instant Payments Regulation, a new EU legislation, by 9 January 2025 all payment service providers (PSPs) that offer services in euros, are required to provide the possibility for customers to send and receive euro payments across the EU instantly. This means that PSPs are required to allow the funds to arrive in the beneficiary account within 10 seconds at any time and day of the year.

However, the speed and convenience of instant payments also brings the heightened risk of various financial crimes with account takeovers, synthetic identity frauds, deepfakes and more becoming increasingly common.

Banks and other PSP's must now work within tight timelines to screen payments for sanctions and money laundering risks, and to verify the identities and bank accounts of sending and receiving parties. This is against the backdrop of an evolving and complex global sanctions landscape and new instant payment regulations and reimbursement liability shifts.

Key figures

  • 320%
    Increase in sanctioned individuals since 2017
  • $3.1 trillion
    Illicit money flow through financial systems in 2023
  • $6.6 billion
    AML fines in 2023 to financial institutions alone, 57% higher than previous years

Our solutions

Our trusted data and real-time capabilities offer you tools you need to pinpoint potential risk at speed and continually deliver a streamlined, customer-first experience.

Benefits

What instant payment screening and verification offers you

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A holistic, risk-based approach

Implement a holistic, risk-based approach to meeting evolving instant payment compliance obligations and delivering a customer-first experience.

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Trusted data from a market leader

Our comprehensive risk management data offers unsurpassed breadth and depth. Backed by more than 500 analysts in 158 jurisdictions, speaking over 70 languages, we monitor more than 30,000 official sources including national and international sanctions listings, 24/7, 365 days a year.

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Advanced technology and tools

Access advanced technology and tools to proactively manage your payments-related risk across volumes of transactions – with speed, accuracy and efficiency.

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