Straight-Through Processing (STP) is an instant payment processing method that allows payments to be made in a single pass through the banking system. A straight-through payment does not require the banks on either side of the transaction to exchange any information, other than the amount, beneficiary, and account type. 

Remember life back in the 90s when every time we needed to connect to the “internet”, we had to wait for dial up?

Well, the infrastructure for payments in the US is even more antiquated than that. Little has changed since the last time ACH was invented in 1978. Waiting around for an ACH payment still can take days.

Imagine if connecting to the internet was only possible two times a day, and not on weekends.

Thankfully, after 40 years things are finally changing with the advent of Real-Time Payments (RTP). Here’s what you need to know about the radically new payments infrastructure.