12 Charts Tell the Story of Instant Payments

The most important architecture decision your fintech or bank will make?  It’s not in a sprint ticket. It’s here. Core and ledger infrastructure is the silent engine behind your fintech product’s roadmap. And the moment you choose one path over another, you define your speed, flexibility, compliance overhead, and long-term margins.  But too often, that choice happens under pressure, with scattered opinions and jargon flying across a whiteboard. This guide is built to change that. What You’ll Get: In this practical, plainspoken field manual, Ingo‘s CPO Lisa McFarland walks you through the real-world decisions product leaders and bank execs make when faced with modern embedded banking demands.  Whether you’re launching a gig-pay platform or rethinking your BaaS architecture, this guide gives you the tools to think clearly, act confidently, and build smarter. You’ll get: A breakdown of the three dominant architecture models: Sidecar Cores, Middleware/BaaS Hubs, and Above-Core Platforms A plain-English glossary that de-jargons terms like omnibus, tokenization, and sub-ledger Real-world pros, pitfalls, and use cases for each architecture A builder’s decision tree to help you map out your go-forward plan Security + crypto readiness tips to stay audit-proof and future-proof Practical checklists for both banks and fintech builders A look inside Ingo’s own modular core approach Who It’s For: Fintech founders and product leads Bank CTOs, CPOs, and transformation leaders Embedded finance operators rethinking infrastructure Anyone facing an architecture decision with real stakes Why Download? This isn’t a fluff piece or vendor pitch. It’s 10+ pages of grounded, decision-critical insight from someone who’s been in the room for these calls.  Whether you’re in evaluation mode or deep in delivery, this guide will help you avoid costly dead-ends and pick the path that fits your goals. 

The speed of instant payments is a well-known attribute. For many large businesses, instant disbursements for nonrecurring, or ad hoc, payments are becoming a strategic tool, particularly for managing vendor relationships, especially when it comes to the gig economy. An April PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Instant Payments: A Strategic Tool for Vendor Relationships and Urgent Transactions,” a collaboration with Ingo Payments, offers compelling insights into this trend, based on a survey of 200 U.S. enterprises with annual revenues of $50 million or more. The report highlighted that many enterprise ad hoc payments need to be sent urgently, with 20% of all surveyed enterprises reporting this demand. The Need for Speed Businesses with an elevated need to make urgent payments are five times more likely to use instant payments to maintain strong vendor relationships, the report found. This motivation goes beyond mere operational efficiency; it’s deeply rooted in the need to avert disruptions, guarantee timely service or delivery, and strengthen and safeguard positive relationships. The primary driver for this urgency is often the need to pay for work completed or products/services delivered, but maintaining strong recipient relationships was cited as the most important reason by many high-urgency businesses. The report delved specifically into the gig economy, an area where 55% of large businesses need to disburse 30% or more of their ad hoc payments urgently. Gig workers rely on immediate payments to sustain their work and financial stability, making instant disbursements essential. The data showed that 97% of payments sent to gig workers were deemed urgent by senders. Gig Economy Prefers Instant Payments The report found that 90% of senders operating in the gig economy prefer instant payments, with 28% favoring push-to-debit transactions. For financial institutions, this signals a need to support instant payment capabilities like push-to-debit to help clients in the gig economy improve worker engagement and stability. This urgency translates directly into a willingness to pay for speed and certainty to cement client relationships, which in turn translates into a competitive advantage. On average, 71% of senders would pay a higher fee to send instantly if the payment was urgent, a figure that rises to 77% among those with more than 30% urgent payments in a typical year. Concerns about service refusal if payment isn’t immediate drive this willingness even higher, as 54% of senders with high payment urgency would pay even more if a vendor refused to deliver goods or services before payment was received. For certain critical transactions, the cost of a fee is less important than ensuring business continuity. Enterprise senders are not only willing to pay more but are also often shouldering the full cost of instant transactions. Businesses with high payment urgency needs paid the full fee for instant payments in 42% of their transactions in the last year, more than double the rate of low-urgency senders. The primary drivers cited for covering the full fee were vendor retention and operational efficiency. Businesses view the cost of instant payments as an investment in maintaining key relationships and ensuring smooth operations. Looking ahead, the widespread adoption of instant payments for ad hoc transactions is anticipated. The goal is even more prevalent among high-urgency businesses (more than 6 in 10) and across various industries. For gig economy senders specifically, an innovation planned by 2028 is the issuance of virtual cards to receivers, indicating the growing importance of streamlined disbursement methods. The willingness of these clients to pay for speed and reliability presents opportunities for financial institutions to offer valuable, differentiated instant payment solutions that go beyond basic transaction processing, supporting clients’ strategic goals and deepening relationships.

Once considered a nice-to-have, instant payments are fast becoming a must-have in the disbursement economy. According to new PYMNTS Intelligence research, nearly 38% of consumers now receive their nongovernment disbursements via instant payment. This share is up from 4.1% in 2017. The shift isn’t simply about access to faster payments. It also reflects deeper demand for financial control, peace of mind and a digital experience that meets modern expectations. Why are more consumers gravitating toward instant disbursements? The answer lies in a trifecta of factors: choice, certainty and convenience. Of the consumers receiving funds instantly in early 2025, 27% chose instant payment over other available methods. This share has grown nearly 5% year over year. In categories like borrowing disbursements, where financial urgency is highest, 64% cited immediate need as a reason for choosing instant payouts. Consumers are also showing a strong willingness to pay for this benefit. Nearly half of disbursement receivers said they would accept a fee to receive their money faster. These findings suggest that instant payments aren’t just about speed — they’re about dependability and the ability to manage daily expenses without delay. Digital wallets are playing a growing role in this evolution. In January, 15% of consumers received their disbursements most often to a digital wallet, nearly double the rate from a year prior. Wallet-based delivery offers convenience and flexibility, helping users receive and spend money quickly. No longer a niche feature, instant payments are a defining component of the new digital norm. As this trend accelerates, businesses that fail to provide instant options risk being left behind in an economy that now runs in real time.