B2B commerce infrastructure platform Balance has introduced a new real-time payments tool.
Instant Bank Connection is designed to simplify ACH setup for buyers and speed payments to merchants, the company said in a Wednesday (May 7) news release.
“Although ACH is one of the most cost-effective payment methods in B2B, its adoption has been held back by outdated onboarding flows such as credential-heavy logins and multi-day verification delays,” Balance said in the release.
“Traditional microdeposit processes can take three to five days to complete, while login-based methods often fail in B2B settings—where buyers typically don’t have access to their company’s banking credentials, creating unnecessary friction at checkout.”
Thus, the company added, merchants often have to delay fulfillment until payments are confirmed, slowing the entire order-to-cash cycle and hindering customer satisfaction.
Instant Bank Connection, Balance said, removes these barriers by letting buyers link their accounts using only routing numbers, offering real-time verification streamlines the buyer experience while giving merchants immediate payment confirmation.
“Merchants shouldn’t have to choose between affordability and speed when it comes to getting paid,” Balance Co-founder and CEO Bar Geron said in the release. “With RTP-enabled ACH payments, they can reduce costs and accelerate access to funds—all while giving buyers a smooth payment experience.”
The new offering comes as real-time payments are noting some major milestones, as PYMNTS wrote earlier this month.
For example, The Clearing House (TCH) RTP® network logged its 1 billionth payment in February, 18 months after reaching the 500 million transaction mark. Use of the network is rising, and considering that the transaction limit was raised to $10 million from $1 million, also in February, instant payment options are well-suited for commercial usage.
“Banks should sit up and take notice. They have historically taken time to set up real-time payments capabilities for big business clients, as 8 in 10 FIs enable large enterprises to send and receive instant payments,” PYMNTS wrote, citing data “Small Businesses, Big Demand: The Case for SMB-Focused Real-Time Payments,” a PYMNTS Intelligence/TCH collaboration.
In other instant payments news, PYMNTS wrote recently about the increasing preference among consumers for instant disbursements, a trend driven by three factors: choice, certainty and convenience.
“Of the consumers receiving funds instantly in early 2025, 27% chose instant payment over other available methods,” that report said. “This share has grown nearly 5% year over year. In categories like borrowing disbursements, where financial urgency is highest, 64% cited immediate need as a reason for choosing instant payouts.”
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