Increasing invoice collections
With the introduction of a standardised real time capability and reduced friction, it is hoped that RTP will increase the potential for invoices to be paid on time and prove to be a valuable service for corporates in particular. RTP should also ensure a smooth and effective way for corporates to reconcile payments in their Accounts Receivable processes.
Christian concludes: “With RTP, all you need to do is just accept the payment request. You are in your own trusted environment, be that your NetBank or some other interface of your choice. You know you can rely on the invoices you receive in this environment as your bank is protecting you. This will of course drive acceptance and lead to an overall higher rate of invoices being paid. In Denmark, it is estimated that presently only 70% of all invoices sent are actually paid on time. This could be because its cumbersome on different channels, sometimes in your postal mail, as a PDF, attached to an e-mail, etc, and you forget it for whatever may be the reason. The user experience is a broken chain and there is no immediate way to complete the payment. In RTP you have a structured format where it’s contextual, you can see the invoice. You don’t need to go into a separate interface to make the payment, you can complete it in one screen.”
In many settings such as e-commerce, person to person or in-store, the instant payment capabilities offered by RTP will enable the creditor to confirm finality of the transaction in real-time.
Tino concludes: “In theory, RTP will offer instant settlement of bills in a much wider group of use cases then currently. This should undoubtedly drive the adaptation of instant payments for society in general. It’s of course difficult to predict the dominant payment method in 10 years’ time, be that account to account, instant or remain in the card space. I think the different payment instruments will survive in parallel for many years to come.”