Transaction value of real-time payments worldwide in 2024, with a 2028 forecast

The value of transactions processed using a real-time payment, or instant payment, technology is forecast to grow by 289 percent between 2023 and 2030. This is according to a market estimate made in early 2023, based on various conditions and sources available at that time. As the name suggests, real-time payments refers to payment settlements that are performed on a near-instantaneous basis. Typically, these are payments that do not belong to a card rail - or the networks operated by Visa or MasterCard - but are instead performed on a bank rail. The biggest example of a real-time payments scheme is UPI (Unified Payments Interface) in India, a scheme developed by the country's central bank and which enables providers to process payments almost immediately. The country with the highest growth in instant payments, however, is Brazil - due to the growing popularity of domestic scheme Pix.