Eighty-six percent of banks, 82 percent of billing organizations and 78 percent of merchants expect to see improvements in their customer service as a result of real-time payments, according to a new report, 2018 Global Payments Insight Survey: Cross-Vertical.

The study, commissioned by ACI Worldwide and conducted by Ovum, also revealed that 51 percent of merchants, billing organizations and retail banks will increase their IT budgets for payments-related projects in 2018.

Other findings from the study:

• 87 percent of banks said they have a clear strategy for developing open APIs, up from 59 percent a year ago.
• 78 percent of banks, 72 percent of billing organizations, and 68 percent of merchants said that the combination of real-time payments and open banking will result in reduced reliance on payment cards over time.
• 86 percent of banks — up from 61 percent in 2.017 — are seeing or expect to see improvements in their customer service as a result of open banking and real-time payments.
• Regional merchants, retail banks and billing organizations are most positive about real-time payments, with 84 percent expecting customer service improvements and 81 percent benefits around operating costs.
• 82 percent of all banks report that a focus on personalization is an area of strong focus for their institution.

"Open banking and real-time payments are set to shape the payments industry in a big way, and the potential upside to both consumers and businesses is enormous," ACI Senior Vice President Alex Hoffmann said. "The Ovum survey has shown that retail banks, billing organizations and merchants are already beginning to experience the benefits and see the advantage of investing in the future of these technologies."

Ovum and ACI Worldwide partnered in December and January to survey 1,032 executives in 19 countries and 13 industry subverticals on topics including: IT investment plans around payment services, core business objectives and priorities; attitudes about fraud and security, payment systems and architecture; and plans and experiences involving open banking and real-time payments.