Welcome to the Top 3 Innovating Payments Headlines for the Week of Sept. 1, 2025.
A new report, published by PYMNTS Intelligence and The Clearing House, shows that financial institutions are overly concerned about fraud risks in real-time payments, even though those networks have the lowest fraud rates in the industry.
Meanwhile, in a financial landscape where the largest credit unions have traditionally outpaced smaller ones in growth and innovation, new data reveals that small credit unions are making significant strides to level the playing field through digital transformation.
Finally, consumers in the United States under the age of 40 are nearly as likely to have used cryptocurrency to make a purchase in the previous three months as they are to have written a check, driving radical transformation in payments.
Read on to learn more.
1. Fraud Is 31x More Likely on Checks Than Real-Time Payments (PYMNTS.com)
Banks say they fear fraud on real-time payment rails. The numbers say they shouldn't. The August 2025 report, "Fact vs. Fiction in Real-Time Payments Fraud," published by PYMNTS Intelligence and The Clearing House, gives rise to a striking contradiction: financial institutions are disproportionately worried about fraud risks in real-time payments, even as those same rails show the lowest fraud rates in the industry. That fear is shaping decisions at the infrastructure level. According to the report, 78% of organizations choose to start their real-time implementation in receive-only mode, a risk-avoidance strategy that limits the value of faster payments and stalls ecosystem-wide adoption. (Read more.)
2. David Goes Digital: Smaller Credit Unions Step Up Innovation to Compete with the Biggest (CU Insight)
In a financial landscape where the largest credit unions have traditionally outpaced smaller players in growth and innovation, new data reveals a notable shift: Small credit unions are taking meaningful steps to level the playing field-through digital transformation. According to the PYMNTS Intelligence/Velera report Credit Union Innovation Readiness: The Smallest Step It Up, smaller credit unions are no longer trailing far behind in innovation. In fact, they are accelerating their digital efforts at a rapid pace. (Read more.)
3. How Consumers Under 40 are Driving Radical Transformations in Payments (The Financial Brand)
Consumers in the United States under the age of 40 are nearly as likely to have used cryptocurrency to make a purchase in the previous three months as they are to have written a check. According to three years of J.D. Power data, these younger consumers are consistently outpacing the broader market in their use of newer and innovative payment methods - biometric checkout, digital wallets, buy now, pay later (BNPL), and cryptocurrency. They're also showing greater usage of pay-by-bank and debit cards. (Read more.)
Are you surprised to learn that real-time payments currently have the lowest fraud rates in the industry? How could increased cryptocurrency use by Americans under 40 affect the payments landscape?
Check back soon for our next issue, which will again highlight the industry's most pressing and need-to-know developments. Until then, visit us online at Innovating Payments.
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AUTHOR: Joe Casali, AAP, NCP
Executive Vice President
As the EVP of Payments Innovation for NEACH, Joe focuses on exploring innovative solutions and technologies that will help position members for success, both now and in the future. Connect with Joe to read more of his blogs, articles, and posts.
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