As consumers grow more willing to pay for speed, instant payments are becoming both a utility and a revenue opportunity.
As adoption of instant payments increases, so too does consumer willingness to pay for speed.
While infrastructure and regulation tend to dominate discussions on real-time payments, new data suggests the most significant driver is neither — it’s end-user behaviour.
According to a new study, Digital Transformation and Instant Payments Fuel Business Disbursement Efficiency, urgency is shaping the economics of disbursement.
One in four consumers now expect access to funds within 30 minutes, and nearly half are open to paying extra to receive them faster. The implications for payment providers are as much commercial as they are operational.
A shift in consumer expectation
The growth in instant disbursement has been steady over recent years. Since 2017, the proportion of consumers receiving nongovernmental disbursements instantly has risen from 4.1% to 38%. Borrowing (45%) and income-related (44%) disbursements are most frequently delivered this way.
However, the more telling shift lies in preference. When given the option, 56% of consumers now say they would choose instant payment — up from 47% a year ago. This preference is highest among younger generations, particularly Gen Z (70.3%), and parents (67.3%).
Financial pressures and tighter household cash flows appear to be influencing payment expectations.
Urgency translates to revenue opportunity
The report indicates 47% of disbursement recipients are willing to pay a higher fee to receive funds instantly when needed.
Among these, 20.2% would pay a substantially higher fee, while 26.9% would accept a slightly higher charge. For consumers managing on tight budgets, this premium is viewed as a necessary trade-off.
This willingness is particularly pronounced among consumers experiencing financial strain. Sixty per cent of those who struggle to meet monthly expenses would pay a slightly higher fee, and 26% would pay significantly more.
Younger demographics follow a similar pattern. Forty-four per cent of Gen Z respondents said they would pay a much higher fee when faced with urgent need.
The relationship between satisfaction and spend
Consumers who use instant disbursements regularly are not only more satisfied — they are also more likely to accept higher costs. Among users who receive instant payments across multiple disbursement types, 64.9% are willing to pay a premium in urgent situations.
Satisfaction appears linked to control and choice. Nearly 80% of users report high satisfaction when given multiple payment options, compared to 74% when instant is the only available method and 67.5% when receiving non-instant disbursements.
This supports a broader theme: enabling informed user choice improves both engagement and willingness to pay.
Destination preferences and platform trends
Although digital wallets are gaining ground, the preferred destination for instant payments remains the bank account. Thirty-five per cent of consumers say they favour direct-to-bank disbursements, with Zelle and push-to-debit card options showing strong regular use.
That said, digital wallets — particularly PayPal — are growing in relevance. In January 2025, 15% of users reported receiving instant disbursements to a digital wallet, up from 7.8% the previous year. The shift suggests a need for providers to balance traditional integration with emerging platforms to meet evolving consumer habits.
