Instant payments can boost the financial prospects of young adults in the EU, new research has revelaed.
The research, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and commissioned by ACI Worldwide shows that for every 5% increase in the volume of instant payments, the number of 15 to 24-year-olds globally who saved money in the last year increased by 15.6% on average.
According to the latest data, the volume of instant payments in the EU is expected to rise from 7.6 billion transactions in 2023 to 21.2 billion transactions in 2028. It means that by 2028 instant payments as a share of all electronic payments in the EU will have risen from 6.1% to 11.1%.
This news comes at a time when young Europeans are facing a range of financial challenges including a lack of affordable housing options. In fact, Eurostat data shows 24.5% of people aged 15 to 29 are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which is 2.9 percentage points higher than the rate for the total populationv.
In February, however, the European Parliament endorsed a Regulation on instant payments, which requires payment service providers to offer their customers the possibility of making payments from one account to another within 10 seconds, regardless of the time of day and the member state they are in. Should charges apply, these must not exceed those applicable for standard credit transfers.
The regulation, which was adopted by the Council on February 26, is expected to accelerate the volume of instant payments made in a region that has lagged. ACI Worldwide’s 2023 Prime Time for Real-Time report shows the share of instant payments among electronic payments in the EU is significantly behind Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Craig Ramsey, global head, real-time payments, ACI Worldwide said: “Our research proves that moving money around faster drives economic growth and boosts financial inclusion, which in turn allows those facing the greatest financial pressures to save. Now that instant payments are mandated and expected to grow significantly, young people in the EU will benefit – as will others.”
