How Do You Prepare for Change?

Gather information to guide your organization’s decisions
Evaluate why your organization needs faster payments, as well as your current capabilities for faster payments
Develop and execute a strategy to assess your technologies, accountholder needs, and vendor relationships

Environmental Assessment Considerations

Current Capabilities and Technologies

Staffing and Human Resources
- Is your organization prepared to operate 24/7/365?
- How will areas be staffed?
- What business continuity processes might be impacted?
Technology
- Does your organization utilize a core processor?
- Will your core processor be equipped to implement the solutions your organization is offering?
- What other technology (i.e., lending or credit card platforms, online banking, ATM operations) might be impacted by the change?

Vendor Relationships

What solutions does your organization’s current vendors, processors, or service providers support? What are their faster payments offerings?
Do your vendors, processors, or service providers support one or multiple faster payments solutions?
Look beyond your vendors’ sales pitches. Identify and examine other sources of information about your vendors’ products
Be an active participant in conversations with your vendors. Come prepared with questions and information to support your organization’s positions
Be prepared for new vendor relationships. If your current vendor cannot satisfy your requirements, then your organization may require new or additional relationships

Customer Base

Who or what is your organization’s current customer base?
- Does your organization primarily serve a retail, business, or mixed customer base?
- Where are your primary customers located? Does geography impact their needs and/or your organization’s capabilities?
Do you have details on the demographics of your customers? How do factors like age, income and gender impact payment preferences and usage?
How does your current customer base utilize your organization’s payment services? Do you have access to detailed transaction data to support your assessment?
- Which channel(s) are their primary payment method? Why do your customers prefer one or more methods over others?
- If your organization already supports one or more faster payment solutions, why and how do your customers use the product? Are there ways to improve?

Assess your organization’s place in the market relative to your peers:
- How are similarly sized institutions or other peer institutions engaging in faster payments?
- Are your competitors neglecting a market that your organization can serve with faster payments?

Benefits of adopting faster payments:
- Opportunities to expand your organization's offerings are only possible if embraced by financial institutions and payment processors
- Evolving your processes and technologies will prepare your organization for future change in multiple lines of business and will help you remain competitive in the marketplace
Possible barriers to adoption:
- Operational - Does your organization have what it needs to support operations 24/7/365?
- Technical – Does your organization have the technical resources to support faster payments?