The momentum behind instant payments continues to build as more financial institutions embrace the RTP® Network and the FedNow® Service. While financial institutions may implement the same instant payment rail, every implementation journey is unique.
To share real-world insights from our membership, we recently spoke with two EPCOR members and payments industry leaders who have approached the transition to instant payments from different perspectives. With adoption of instant payments continuing to grow, 1,828 financial institutions are now connected to the FedNow® Service and 1,305 to the RTP® Network as of August 3, 2026. Tammy Cantrell, Executive Vice President of Corporate One FCU, has helped hundreds of credit unions prepare for and connect to instant payments. Suzy Morris, APRP, Senior Vice President of Peoples National Bank, led her community bank's strategy to implement both send and receive capabilities on the RTP® Network and the FedNow® Service.
Although their organizations serve different roles within the financial services industry, both leaders emphasized that success isn't defined by simply connecting to a payment rail. It requires strategic planning, collaboration across the organization and a commitment to preparing for a 24x7x365 payments environment.
Different Starting Points
For Suzy, the decision to implement instant payments began with a simple question: What are clients asking for?
"We often heard phrases from clients like, 'What can we do after hours and on weekends?' and 'How come it takes time for transactions to process?'" she explained. "I was determined to strengthen Peoples National Bank and provide our clients with options for efficient cash flow simply by moving money faster."
Today, Peoples National Bank has reached a mature stage in its faster payments journey, offering both send and receive capabilities through the RTP® Network and the FedNow® Service.
Corporate One FCU arrived at instant payments from a different direction. Recognizing early that real-time payments would fundamentally reshape the payments landscape, the credit union saw an opportunity to help its member credit unions prepare for what was ahead.
"Corporate One FCU recognized early that instant payments would fundamentally change how money moves in the United States," Tammy shared.
That vision led Corporate One FCU to become the first corporate credit union participant on the RTP® Network in 2020 and later participate in the FedNow® Pilot Program before completing certification for the FedNow® Service in 2023.
Today, Corporate One FCU supports a growing instant payments ecosystem within the credit union industry, connecting 153 credit unions to RTP® receive, and 59 credit unions to FedNow® receive as of July 2026, while continuing to expand send capabilities across both payment rails.
While their motivations differed, both leaders shared the same objective: ensuring their organizations remained ready for the future of payments.
Technology Was Only One Piece of the Puzzle
For both Peoples National Bank and Corporate One FCU, one lesson became clear early in the process: implementing instant payments isn't simply an IT project.
Tammy stated that one of the first decisions Corporate One FCU faced was determining what role it wanted to play in the faster payments ecosystem. "We could have simply acted as a connector to the RTP® Network and the FedNow® Service," she shared. "But we ultimately chose a more consultative, white-glove approach. We believed credit unions needed more than connectivity. They needed a trusted partner to help them navigate implementation, understand operational impacts and prepare their organizations for real-time payments."
That philosophy shaped every implementation that followed. Rather than focusing solely on technical connectivity, Corporate One FCU works alongside each credit union to develop project plans, coordinate stakeholders, oversee testing and guide teams through onboarding from start to finish.
“I'm particularly proud of the support our team provides,” Tammy added. “Many credit unions have told us it was one of the smoothest and easiest technology implementations they have experienced.”
Peoples National Bank took a similarly strategic approach, beginning with executive leadership. "Collaboration started at the top," Suzy explained. "I developed our Faster Payments Strategy and brought it to our CEO and Board of Directors."
From there, education expanded throughout the bank. EPCOR training resources helped prepare operations staff, while Suzy worked with finance, retail and sales teams to ensure employees understood how faster payments would affect both internal processes and client experiences.
Collaboration Doesn't Stop at the Payments Team
One of the strongest themes from both conversations was that implementing instant payments requires buy-in across the entire institution.
At Corporate One FCU, the initiative involved representatives from payments, operations, risk management, compliance, accounting, information security, technology, product and client support teams.
"Instant payments require collaboration across nearly every area of an organization, and we approached implementation as an enterprise initiative rather than a payments project," Tammy described. Supporting a 24x7x365 payments environment also meant developing new operational processes that continue evolving as transaction volumes increase.
Peoples National Bank experienced much of that same reality.
"With the new rails, there were many changes that impacted the bank and our clients," Suzy emphasized. By bringing together compliance, finance, operations, audit and other departments early in the project, the Peoples National Bank was able to prepare for both the operational and cultural changes that accompany real-time payments.
Preparing for a Real-Time Risk Environment
The speed of instant payments also requires a different approach to risk management and fraud mitigation.
For Corporate One FCU, risk assessments were conducted throughout implementation to evaluate operational, settlement, liquidity and process risks before services went live. Because RTP® and FedNow® payments settle immediately and are irrevocable, Tammy emphasized the importance of building appropriate controls into the process from the outset. While a receiving financial institution may choose to honor a return request, funds cannot be recovered without that institution's cooperation. The finality of real-time payments makes effective fraud prevention especially critical.
Rather than requiring every participating credit union to adopt the same fraud solution, Corporate One FCU built an open infrastructure capable of integrating with multiple fraud-monitoring providers. "Our goal was to create choice and flexibility rather than force institutions into a one-size-fits-all approach," she described.
Peoples National Bank also recognized that risk management needed to be embedded throughout implementation.
"We leaned on our core, FIS, to help with this area," Suzy shared. "Additionally, we engaged our Chief Compliance Officer, BSA/AML and Chief Auditor to ensure all areas had been addressed for the first step of receiving. The more challenging part was sending."
Seeing the Results
For Corporate One FCU, success is reflected in the growing number of credit unions embracing real-time payments. Corporate One FCU has helped connect approximately 30% of credit unions to the RTP® Network and nearly 10% to the FedNow® Service, with standard implementations established in as few as 45 days. It’s approach also brings settlement services, liquidity management, reporting and fraud-related resources together through a centralized hub, giving participating credit unions access to multiple capabilities as they build their instant payments strategies.
For Peoples National Bank, the impact became apparent almost immediately. "Instant payments has provided Peoples National Bank with an option," Suzy explained. "Being a Midwest bank, we previously could not always provide clients with later cutoff options for different time zones for sending money. Those barriers are gone."
The speed of settlement also made an impression on employees. "Our staff was amazed on day one of receiving that we had transactions being routed to Peoples National Bank that normally would have taken days to receive," she shared.
Those early experiences reinforced the value of the investment while demonstrating how real-time payments can improve both operational efficiency and the customer/member experience.
Advice for Those Beginning the Journey
Reflecting on their experiences, both leaders encourage financial institutions, whether banks or credit unions, to think beyond connectivity and focus on long-term strategy.
"Don't view instant payments as simply a technology project," Tammy described. "Successful implementations require alignment across operations, risk, compliance, accounting, liquidity management, fraud prevention and member-facing teams."
She also encourages financial institutions to identify the use cases that matter most and develop a roadmap that addresses both operational readiness and adoption.
Suzy offers similarly practical advice for banks and credit unions preparing to take their first steps. "When was the last new payment rail launched at your institution?" she questioned. "Think about the change and reward to the bank and its customers. Start at the beginning with receive and monitor the impact."
Although Corporate One FCU and Peoples National Bank began their journeys from different starting points, their experiences reveal a common thread: there is no single path to instant payments, and success isn't defined by technology alone. It comes from thoughtful planning, cross-functional collaboration, ongoing education and a willingness to prepare for the future of payments before it arrives.
As adoption of the RTP® Network and the FedNow® Service continues to grow, these shared perspectives offer valuable guidance for any organization considering its own path toward real-time payments.
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