Call them what you will - Instant Payment Systems, Fast Payment Systems, Real Time Payments - or by their brands UPI, RTP® and more - these payment systems are experiencing success around the world.

As the US stands weeks away from launching FedNow, we decided to take a closer look at the success of one of the hottest newcomers to the instant payments scene - Brazil’s Pix.

As it turns out, there is much to be learned from success.

Launched in November 2020, in just 2 years Pix had processed R$13 Trillion. Remarkable as that statistic is, it is more impressive when you realize that within 7 months of its launch, Pix was processing more volume than credit documents (DOC), electronic transfers (TED), and bank slips combined. By February of 2022, Pix had overtaken debit and credit card transaction volumes. By December of 2022 Pix broke a record - processing more than 100 million transactions in 24 hours.

If that is not enough, it looks to be accomplishing what many countries hope for with a new fast payment system - Pix has moved the needle on the financially underserved, shifting from 50% of the population being unbanked to 75% of the population using Pix.

In this first episode of a 3-part series, Yvette Bohanan sits down with Cici Northup, Joanna Wisniecka, and Elizabeth McQuerry to discuss the “state of play” for fast payment systems and the key questions to ask about what the future holds for all of us as the world enters a phase of transformative modernization.