TCH's RTP® Business Committee Adds 4 Seats for Community Banks and Credit Unions

- The addition of four members to the RTP® Business Committee expands the influence of community banks and credit unions on the nation's foremost real-time payments network

News provided by

The Clearing House

Mar 28, 2019, 08:10 ET

NEW YORK, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Clearing House, the operator of the RTP^® network, announced that four new seats for community banks and credit unions will be added to RTP Business Committee to expand the type and number of financial institutions that help govern the newest core payments rail to be introduced in the U.S. in more than 40 years.

The four new representatives from banks and credit unions will join the existing Business Committee which has representatives from each of the TCH member banks. The RTP Business Committee meets monthly and has numerous responsibilities, including providing input and guidance to the strategic execution of the RTP network, ensuring prudent risk management practices are followed, promoting the design, operation, and management of the system so that it delivers safe, efficient, and accessible payments that include appropriate protections for all end users, and establishing, amending, repealing, or restating the rules for the RTP network, among others duties.

"The RTP network was built for financial institutions of all sizes," said Jim Aramanda, President and CEO at The Clearing House. "Having four new financial institutions at the table representing system users of different sizes will help ensure that the network fully incorporates the needs of all users as real-time payments become universally available throughout the country."

The additional four seats on the committee are accompanied by the release of the Business Principles for the RTP Network from the Supervisory Board of TCH, which directs TCH to operate and maintain the network for all participants, regardless of size. The Business Principles also stipulate that the RTP network is run as a utility for the benefit of the industry and that RTP fees shall continue to be flat for all participants regardless of size, and shall not include volume discounts or minimum volume requirements, among other principles. You can find the Business Principles for the RTP Network here.

The RTP network was developed to meet the needs of depository institutions of all sizes by providing various options to connect to the system, including directly to the RTP network, or through a third-party service provider, such as a core processor, a hosted gateway, a bankers' bank or a corporate credit union. The RTP network has a single price for all participants regardless of size, with no volume discounts, no volume commitments, and no monthly minimums. The network's technology is designed to support commercial innovation and is expected to lead to the development of a wave of products that will allow users to exchange non-payment messages, images and other value-added features.

A major advancement to U.S. payments technology, the RTP network was designed collaboratively by the TCH member banks and in complete alignment with the Federal Reserve-sponsored Faster Payments Task Force effectiveness criteria

About The Clearing House
Since its founding in 1853, The Clearing House has delivered safe and reliable payments systems, facilitated bank-led payments innovation, and provided thought leadership on strategic payments issues. The Clearing House continues to leverage its unique capabilities to support bank-led innovation, including launching the RTP^® network, a real-time payment system that modernizes core payments capabilities for all federally-insured U.S. depository institutions. The Clearing House is the only private-sector ACH and wire operator in the United States, clearing and settling nearly $2 trillion in U.S. dollar payments each day, representing half of all commercial ACH and wire volume. As the country's oldest banking trade association, The Clearing House also provides informed advocacy and thought leadership on critical payments-related issues facing financial institutions today. The Clearing House is owned by 24 financial institutions and supports hundreds of banks and credit unions through its core systems and related services. Learn more at www.theclearinghouse.org.

SOURCE The Clearing House