ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time digital payment software and solutions, and Mastercard, the global multi-rail payments technology company, today announced that they will partner to provide a wide range of real-time payment solutions globally. They will initially collaborate to offer best-in-class central infrastructure, payments localisation and access solutions to central banks, scheme operators, financial institutions, payment service providers, and other organizations launching real-time payments initiatives.
The real-time account-to-account payments market continues to quickly expand. Prime Time for Real-Time — a recent study analysing global real-time, account-to-account payment volumes and forecasts across 30 global markets — projects a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23.4 percent from 2019 to 2024. While existing schemes around the world are adding new participants and value-added services, additional country and regional schemes are launching each year, including more than 20 schemes in varying planning stages.
With a complementary real-time payments vision, the combination of Mastercard’s central infrastructure and ACI’s payments access and real-time message transformation technology delivers an unmatched end-to-end offering.
“With more countries and regions embarking on the modernisation of their payments systems to capitalise on real-time technologies and customer demand, the market opportunity is significant,” said Paul Stoddart, President of New Payment Platforms, Mastercard. “Working together with ACI, we will explore a wide range of opportunities to accelerate the development and usage of real-time and multi-channel payment platforms, driving choice and innovation to market participants and end customers.”
“Mastercard and ACI share an extensive and complementary track record of real-time payments success — driving global central infrastructure clearing and settlement schemes, and this partnership creates the most robust and complete set of real-time capabilities in the market today,” said Craig Saks, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, ACI Worldwide. “Our companies are the leaders in real-time payments and aligning on an end-to-end solution will provide great benefit not only to banks and central infrastructures, but to merchants, billers, fintechs and intermediaries — and their customers — as well.”