CertifID’s online payment protection platform will now provide protection of real time payments (RTP), offering $1 million in insurance for every verified RTP transaction.
“With the upcoming launch of FedNow, many of our customers have asked us what instant payments such as FedNow and RTP will mean for preventing fraud,” CertifID CEO and co-founder Tyler Adams said in a release. “You’ve also wanted to know if CertifID fraud protection software, insurance, and services include coverage for RTP transactions.
“The TL;DR answer to both of those questions is: CertifID has you covered and now insures real time payments.”
Adams said instant payments will provide exciting improvements to the title industry in terms of greater speed, visibility, and convenience and cited that speed also makes upfront verification before any money is sent even more important.
CertifID will ensure RTP payment safety through verification software and services that evaluate more than 150 markers of fraud, he added.
“With a wire transfer, our CertifID fraud recovery services team can often successfully help to claw back funds if a fraud is discovered within a few days,” Adams said. “But with instant payments, that timeframe shrinks to just seconds. Fraud recovery becomes extremely challenging with RTP, placing even more importance on disbursement processes that verify payment details upfront, before any funds are sent.”
Both RTP and FedNow are new faster payment rails. RTP has been available since 2017 from The Clearing House, which includes the largest commercial banks in the U.S. FedNow was developed by the federal government and will become available soon. They have similar features and rules, with both referred to as instant payments.
More than 300 banks and credit unions now support RTP. A sender can send funds to an RTP-enabled account, or a receiver can initiate a transaction by sending a “Request for Payment.” Any transaction still requires sharing of banking details. “Request for Payment” is currently available through the participating RTP banks for business accounts only. An RTP transaction will be completed and final within 30 seconds or less, according to experts.
RTP services support a “Request for Return of Payment” feature, that immediately notifies the sending and receiving institutions and receiver when money is being requested back. It is up to the receiver to authorize the return of the funds in an RTP transaction.
Account name or payee matching is currently not a required field in an RTP payment, although it could be supported in the future, Adams said.
“Here at CertifID, our guidance on how to protect yourself from fraud remains the same,” Adams said. “Just as you do today with wire transfers - verify RTP transactions before any funds are sent - whether it’s a mortgage payoff, buyer cash to close, or seller net proceeds.”