Can Instant Payments Replace Checks? Separating Reality from the Myth

For years, the payments industry has predicted the death of the paper check. Yet despite the growth of FedNow®, RTP®, Same Day ACH, and digital wallets, billions of checks continue to be written every year. Are instant payments truly capable of replacing checks, or are they simply solving different problems? This thought-provoking course examines the real reasons businesses and consumers still rely on checks and compares those use cases against today's instant payment capabilities. Rather than focusing solely on payment speed, we'll evaluate the business functions that checks provide, including payment authorization, remittance information, exception handling, Positive Pay, escrow, post-dating, legal requirements, and commercial workflows.

 Participants will explore where instant payments, Request for Payment (RFP), ISO 20022 messaging, and emerging digital payment solutions can fully replace checks, where they offer significant operational improvements, and where checks continue to serve legitimate business needs. We'll also discuss how financial institutions can help commercial customers transition from paper-based processes to modern payment experiences without disrupting existing workflows. Whether you're planning your institution's payment strategy, supporting treasury management clients, or simply wondering if "the check is finally dead," this session provides a practical, balanced framework for understanding the future of business payments.

Topics covered in this course

• Why Businesses and Consumers Still Rely on Checks
• What Instant Payments, RFP, and ISO 20022 Can and Cannot Replace
• Evaluating Check Use Cases: Authorization, Escrow, Post-Dating, and Legal Requirements
• Migrating Commercial Customers from Paper to Modern Payment Experiences
• Separating Myth from Reality in the Future of Business Payments