A recent report titled The Power of Now: Moving Money at the Speed of Life: Investment Firms’ Payout Gap highlights a significant gap in payout speeds within the U.S. investment sector. The study is based on a survey of 120 executives responsible for payment decisions at various investment platforms.
Currently, only 11% of standard withdrawals are processed within one minute. Despite this, firms have set an ambitious goal to complete 47% of all payouts in real time within the next three years. The research indicates that slow payment processing leads to increased service requests, disputes, and higher manual workloads.
The report suggests that implementing push-to-debit technology can help bridge this gap. Platforms utilizing this method process a higher volume of payments in real time and experience fewer customer inquiries regarding payment status. This approach is positioned as a way to improve customer loyalty and reduce operational pressure.
The study was conducted by PYMNTS Intelligence in collaboration with Visa Direct. Data collection took place between December 30, 2025, and January 26, 2026, focusing on executives with direct oversight of disbursement strategies.
