The Future of Payments

48 BANKING PERSPECTIVES QUARTER 4 2018 RTP at 1: Trion Solutions, Inc. As retail customers become more aware of RTP’s potential and commercial clients demand greater flexibility, the financial community is receiving an opportunity to show strong leadership and earn customer loyalty. employees will have immediate access to their cash. And the ability to make and accept RTP any time of the day, any day of the week, is a game-changer. When the need arises, Trion accommodates client requests for emergency payroll services outside the standard processing protocol and, in many instances, within all four national time zones. The ability to effectuate transactions during “normal business hours,” especially with our clients in the Mountain and Pacific time zones, is an important client-experience performance indicator. RTP will allow Trion to improve client satisfaction by going beyond time-limiting payment options to fund work-site employee payrolls immediately, eliminating “the check is in the mail” and having to wait for Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions to process the next day. The successful adaption of RTP-like platforms in other countries is undeniable. Japan was an early adopter more than 40 years ago; Switzerland more than 30. The United Kingdom has had an RTP-like platform in place for the past 10 years, and more than 20 other countries – including Denmark, Sweden, Poland, India, and Thailand – have done the same. The United States has taken a more cautious route, but for a good reason. Unlike other countries, we have the effective and efficient ACH system in place, and smartly, we chose to watch closely how RTP was managed in these countries, learning from their experiences. Also, security issues need to continue to be fully vetted. Cybersecurity, fraud detection, and the need to link RTP to a third-party directory of databases to verify user identities are complex and critical areas that need to receive passing grades before they proceed. These issues, however, are being addressed by TCH and participating banks, and the process is moving forward. What is Trion Solutions doing to make RTP more effective and accepted by our clients in the near term? Trion is fully engaged in supporting the integration of RTP by participating in preplanning and rollout discussions with our two banking partners. We continue to identify and quantify the challenges within our pilot program and provide feedback to our client base to maintain our industry-leading position. Internally, we are developing standard operating procedures and processes as part of our RTP early-adoption initiative. As such, in early 2019, Trion will invest capital to promote an enhanced IT platform to accommodate RTP while working with our enterprise resource planning software and banking business partners. All of us should participate shaping the RTP platform, which will be implemented across numerous and diverse industries. I look forward to continued participation on TCH’s Corporate Advisory Board and in my further discussions with financial institutions as we help shape the future of RTP during this exciting time in our industry. RTP will let Trion offer client companies the option of providing fast payments to employees, with immediate access to funds.