Instant Payments Compliance: Why It Must Modernize Now

Rethinking Instant Payments Compliance for Today’s Risks

Instant payments compliance is quickly becoming one of the most important modernization priorities for financial institutions. The shift to 24/7 settlement means traditional controls, processes, and staffing models are struggling to keep up with the speed, volume, and irrevocability of today’s money movement.

Senior leaders are experiencing the tension firsthand. Fraud attempts spike outside business hours. Sanctions list updates arrive in real time. Customers expect funds to clear immediately, while regulators expect transparent, explainable, and consistent controls across every transaction.

Most institutions are realizing a hard truth.Their payment rails have modernized. Their compliance framework has not.

This gap creates operational exposure that cannot be solved with legacy tools or after-the-fact reviews. Instant payments require a proactive, predictive, and embedded approach to compliance— one that protects speed without sacrificing safety.

Why Instant Payments Compliance Needs a New Model

Instant payments compliance touches every part of the organization, from risk and AML to product, treasury, and operations. The core shift is simple. Detection after a transaction is no longer enough. Controls must operate at the point of intention.

Here are several pressure points senior leaders are navigating today:

1. Real-time AML and sanctions decisioning

   AML and sanctions screening must operate in sub-second timeframes. If these controls fire after a transaction posts, the funds are already gone.

2. Continuous visibility into sender and receiver risk

   Receiver risk is now just as important as sender risk. Many institutions discover exposure only after an issue emerges on the receiving side.

3. Operational readiness beyond business hours

   Instant payments do not sleep. Staffing models and manual queues cannot be the first line of defense for 24/7 rails.

4. Data-rich decisioning powered by ISO 20022

   Instant payments compliance now relies on structured, enriched data. Institutions using ISO 20022 effectively gain stronger analytics, fewer false positives, and clearer risk profiles.

5. Automation with human oversight

   Agentic AI can triage alerts, validate information, and prepare case narratives. But the final judgment still belongs to qualified compliance professionals. This combination strengthens both speed and accuracy.

These themes mirror conversations happening across boardrooms and regulatory meetings globally. The institutions that succeed will be those that design compliance into the payment journey, not after it.

A Clear Path Forward for Instant Payments Compliance

Instant payments compliance is not simply a regulatory obligation. It is a growth enabler. It protects customer trust, accelerates monetizable use cases, and ensures modernization programs remain viable long term.

Leaders who modernize their compliance design now will reduce exposure, strengthen their operational resilience, and avoid the heavy costs of non-compliance. Those who delay will find themselves reacting to risks they can no longer see in time.

Continue the Conversation

If this resonates and you are navigating instant payments compliance challenges, I would welcome a conversation. Supporting institutions through this transition is core to my work as the Payments Maven™.

Read the full deep-dive article on Substack here:👉 Why Compliance Needs a Seat at the Innovation Table

Or connect with me directly to explore how to modernize your institution’s instant payments strategy.