World’s Major Economies Playing Catch-Up as Widespread Adoption Drives Global Real-Time Payments Growth – ACI Worldwide Report

New sophisticated use cases for consumers and businesses are driving global RTP volumes to record highs, with 195.0B RTP transactions recorded globally in 2022 — a YoY growth of 63.2% — according to the 2023 Prime Time for Real-Time report, published by ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software, in partnership with GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

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Prime Time for Real-Time 2023 : Key Facts and Figures at a Glance (Graphic: Business Wire)

• 511.7B real-time transactions globally are forecast by 2027, representing a 2022-2027 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.3%.
• By 2027, RTPs are expected to account for 27.8% of all electronic payments globally.
• India remains the undisputed RTP leader, with a staggering 89.5B transactions in 2022 and a YoY growth rate of 76.8%. India accounted for 46% of all global real-time transactions in 2022.
• Brazil was the third fastest-growing RTP market in 2022, with a YoY growth of 228.9%, and is in second place in transactions, with 29.2B in 2022, representing 15% of all global real-time transactions.
• China, Thailand and South Korea are third, fourth and fifth, respectively, on the list of the top RTP markets, with 17.6B, 16.4B and 8B transactions, respectively, in 2022.

Governments and regulators are taking notice of consumer adoption

With consumers and businesses around the world demanding cheaper, faster and more efficient ways to pay, and merchant acceptance of RTPs on the rise, consumer and business adoption via popular new use cases is heating up. This year’s Prime Time for Real-Time report analyzes RTP transactions per head of population per month for the first time, highlighting where consumers and businesses most actively use RTP:

• Bahrain, a country of just 1.5 million people, is forecast to have the highest level of RTP consumer adoption by 2027, with 83.3 RTP transactions per head per month projected.
• Consumers in Brazil (#2) and Thailand (#3) are expected to make 51.8 and 43.6 RTP transactions per month, respectively, by 2027.
• Four European countries — Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland — are forecast among the top 10 countries for RTP consumer adoption by 2027.
• The U.K., Canada, the U.S., Germany, France and Italy — all top 10 global economies by GDPⁱ — are forecast to place 17^th, 19^th, 33^rd, 34^th, 35^th and 42^nd, respectively, for consumer adoption in 2027.

“This year’s report highlights how consumer and business adoption of real-time payments accelerates when the conditions are right,” said Craig Ramsey, global head of real-time payments and banking, ACI Worldwide. “The countries at the top of our league table — Bahrain, Brazil and Thailand — are all relatively recent enablers of real-time payments. Concerted industry collaboration and government mandates, widespread merchant adoption, strong brand recognition for a scheme, and related services, such as digital wallets, have provided the perfect combination for strong growth in these markets.”