In this episode of FinWise EYE ON, host Sarah Grotta, Chief Fintech Officer at FinWise, sits down with Reed Luhtanen, Executive Director & CEO of the U.S. Faster Payments Council, for a deep-dive conversation on the rapid evolution of faster and real-time payments in the U.S.

Reed brings a unique, ecosystem-wide perspective—spanning banks, fintechs, payment networks, merchants, and regulators—to unpack how the industry has moved from “why faster payments?” to “how fast can we get live?”

Listeners will learn:

• Why instant payments have officially passed the tipping point in the U.S.
• How RTP and FedNow adoption has accelerated—and what’s driving it
• The most compelling real-world use cases, from payroll and earned wage access to loan disbursements, insurance payouts, marketplaces, and healthcare
• How fintechs access faster payment rails through bank partnerships
• Why “receive-only” participation isn’t enough—and the ROI case for enabling send
• Key fraud and risk considerations—and why real-time doesn’t mean reckless
• How industry standards (confirmation of payee, transaction tags, exceptions handling) can unlock broader adoption
• The role of AI, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits in the future payments landscape
• Why optionality and redundancy may be a strength—not a weakness—of the U.S. payments system

Whether you’re a community bank, fintech, program manager, or payments professional, this episode offers valuable insight into where faster payments are today—and where they’re headed next.