BBVA Compass Goes Live With Real-Time Payments

Ben Milne in The Dwolla Blog: Real-time is here for everyone and there’s no turning back. It’s not just an idea. FiSync allows money to move like you’d expect it to: instantly. Dwolla’s FiSync protocol facilitates secure real-time payments that bypass traditional networks. Transactions initiated via FiSync are fast, secure, and available now through BBVA Compass.

What makes Dwolla’s technology so dramatically different is that when you hit the send button the money actually moves instantly and there’s no card or check used in the process at all. It’s completely digital. FiSync enabled transactions made to and from your financial institution can be done in real-time on any device connected to the Internet.

In fact, transactions through FiSync settle faster than most websites load. Once you see the confirmation page, the money has already moved.

Comparing speed between FiSync and a traditional ACH funded transaction makes a stark point.

Real-time payments are anytime payments.

In a real-time world, you’re in control of when your money stops, or goes. In a real-time world, money is just where it’s supposed to be when it’s supposed to be there.

What normally takes a business day or more now takes less than a second, and the network is always open to process a payment. FiSync uses Dwolla’s real-time ledger, configured to communicate with banks. It’s already been used to move billions in transactions and there are no settlement windows to mess with.

With this new technology, there’s no waiting for the Fed to open on Monday or at 8:30AM. You can stream payments anytime and do so. Big businesses like CME and local businesses like Mars Cafe can all use it. There’s no bias for who gets access.

For businesses banking at BBVA Compass, using Dwolla for payouts means, with a BBVA Compass account you won’t need to preload a separate bank account to disburse payments and receivers will get access instantly in Dwolla. That means the money can stay in your bank account longer. For merchants accepting payments, it means the second you receive a payment, that money is available to you even if that payment was made at 2AM on a Saturday.

New technology completely removes the need for sensitive bank account or payment information.

Most tokenization (or the replacement of sensitive information with unique, encrypted tokens) requires that users still provide sensitive payment account information to a third-party, like ApplePay, Square Cash, Stripe, or PayPal, before becoming tokenized. FiSync pioneers a new application of tokenization, one that removes the need for Dwolla to collect bank account information or credentials to connect a checking or savings account.

This not only reduces the information security risk associated with bank transfers, but creates a simple, safe, and fast way to link your checking or savings accounts.

Here’s what it looks like:

Developers can build real-time into anything connected to the internet.

There are no crazy hoops for a developer to jump through to build real-time into their applications or business operations. Registered members can head on over to docs.dwolla.com and have some fun.

Dwolla’s API is already up and running, being supported by a team of 10,000 developers strong. If you’re an international developer and want to build software you can leverage our sandbox without creating a full account.

You control who has permissions and access to your account.

Don’t want an application to have access to your Dwolla account anymore? Just remove the access. Simple, like it should be. The network doesn’t just use tokenization at the account level, Dwolla uses it at the network level too.

Try doing that with a check.

Available now.

Real-time accounts offered at BBVA Compass will work seamlessly with every business, non-profit, state and federal government agency, software application, and person who is already using Dwolla.

You can get a real-time-enabled bank account today for the first time in history. Head on over to BBVA Compass to get started.

If you’re a bank or credit union looking to join Dwolla’s network and start driving new revenues at your financial institution, we’d love to hear from you.

Real-time is here, folks. It’s fast, it’s secure. Today is a good day.