World's First Instant Payments Intelligence Hub

Instant Payments (also known as real-time or immediate payments) are expected to become "the new normal" for financial transactions. There are 23 national Instant Payment systems already live today around the world with many others in the planning or development phase. Instant Payments provide the foundation for tomorrow's digital payment products and financial institutions that delay implementation risk losing market share to fast-moving competitors. As momentum around the globe builds, financial institutions, payment providers, regulators, and vendors require simplified access to the latest information to help them navigate the best path to Instant Payments. Market fragmentation across the different schemes has resulted in complexity in terms of technical, operational and service standards, creating a strong need for intelligence and information sharing. InstaPay fulfils this need by providing the following:

• Instant Payments Tracker - an interactive map plotting the development and details of national Instant Payments schemes throughout the world
• News - the latest news from the around the world of Instant Payments
• Insights - a source of valuable market intelligence, such as white papers, reports, and research studies, as well as thought leadership articles from industry leaders
• Events - a list of the key banking and payment industry conferences and events
• Community - exclusive InstaPay LinkedIn group drives and facilitates discussion and knowledge sharing on the latest issues and trends by its members

The site's editor is Mark McMurtrie, an independent payments consultant with over 25 years' payments experience, who together with the editorial advisory board, will guide the focus of InstaPay. Members of the board include:

• Fred Bär, Partner, Payments Advisory Group
• George Evers, Immediate Payments Service Directors, VocaLink
• Tom Hay, Head of Payments, Icon Solutions
• Steve Ledford, Senior Vice President, Product and Strategy, The Clearing House
• Dr. Leo J. Lipis, Chief Executive, Lipis Advisors
• Liz Oakes, Director, Management Consulting, KPMG LLP (UK)

"The shift from the old world of slow batch based payment systems to the new world of Instant Payments requires new thinking and new approaches, and as such, new sources of intelligence. By bringing all the best information together in one central place, we can help simplify access to information, and support the transition to Instant Payments by market participants around the world," said Mark McMurtrie, editor of InstaPay. "We have an editorial advisory board packed with expertise and experience, and I look forward to working with them to build an invaluable and inclusive resource for the benefit of the whole industry." "The market has been crying out for such a resource for years. InstaPay is an important step forward, helping inform banks about the transition to the new world of Instant Payments and paving the way for industry leaders to collaborate and share ideas. I'm proud to be part of that," said Liz Oakes, Director, Management Consulting, KPMG LLP UK.