Global adoption of real-time payment programs by financial institutions is picking up speed, according to new research from FIS.

In its fourth annual Flavors of Fast report, FIS identified 25 active real-time payment programs around the world, up from 19 in 2016 and more than double the level of the company’s first study in 2013. Further, the report identified 11 payments programs under development — up from just five in 2016 — and eight more that FIS expects to be announced in the next 12 to 18 months.

"Interest in real-time payments platforms is growing at an ever-faster pace," said Anthony Jabbour, chief operating officer, Banking and Payments, FIS, in a release on the study. "Financial institutions need to be actively exploring use cases for real-time payments within their own organizations for meeting the requirements of their customers. Those who wait may find themselves left behind as the faster payments revolution takes hold."

The FIS research included a "Faster Payments Innovation Index" that measured the comprehensiveness of current real-time payments projects. Programs were rated on a scale of one to five (five being highest) in terms of how well they meet the real-time payments needs of consumers, business and corporate customers alike.

The 2017 Flavors of Fast report highlighted three particularly innovative real-time payments programs:

• India's Unified Payments Interface took home the index’s only 5 rating. The project's high rating was based on the system's standard, published application programming interface and strong participation from third-party vendors, which has resulted in high transaction volumes and immediate payment services available across India.
• Finland's Siirto real-time payments program received an index score 4. Siirto works without a credit or debit card – users can send and receive money with just a mobile phone — and claims to already meet the requirements for PSD2, Europe's financial information regulations, which will go into effect in 2018.
• Australia's New Payments Platform, which is scheduled to go live at the end of 2017, has broad support with the country's four major banks, as well as around many credit unions and mutual banks that plan to offer immediate payment services in remote locations through an Australian Settlements Limited managed service.