BofA Clients Embrace New $10 Million Limit in U.S. Real-Time Payments

Rhea-AI Summary

Bank of America has successfully implemented The Clearing House's increased transaction limit for real-time payments from $1M to $10M, becoming one of the first banks to offer this enhanced capability to corporate clients. In the first six weeks since implementation, transactions over $1M now represent more than 50% of all U.S. real-time payment values processed by BofA. The RTP network operates 24/7, provides instant settlement, transaction transparency, and uses ISO 20022 standards. This upgrade enables new use cases including real estate transactions, deal closings, and just-in-time supplier payments. Bank of America, serving 94% of Fortune 500 and 73% of Global Fortune 500 companies, offers this service alongside its comprehensive payment solutions including commercial card, ACH, wire, and transactional FX solutions.

Positive

• Increased transaction limit from $1M to $10M enables new high-value payment use cases
• Strong adoption with transactions over $1M accounting for over 50% of RTP payment values in first 6 weeks
• 24/7 operation with instant settlement capabilities enhances working capital management
• Extensive market reach serving 94% of Fortune 500 companies

Negative

• None.

Insights

Financial Services Analyst

BofA's $10M real-time payment limit driving significant corporate adoption, strengthening their treasury management services for high-value transactions.

Bank of America's implementation of the increased $10 million limit for real-time payments represents a significant enhancement to their corporate banking capabilities, with remarkable early adoption metrics. Just six weeks after implementation, transactions over $1 million now comprise more than half the value of all U.S. real-time payments processed by the bank – a clear indicator of strong demand among their corporate clients.

The strategic value extends beyond simply processing larger transactions. This capability enables entirely new use cases in B2B payments, particularly for high-value transactions like real estate deals and corporate acquisitions that traditionally relied on wire transfers. The RTP network's 24/7 availability, immediate settlement, transaction transparency, and ISO 20022 messaging standard create a compelling value proposition for corporate treasurers.

As directly quoted in the release: "The instant nature of real-time payments is a huge advantage for optimizing working capital and cashflow." This working capital optimization is particularly valuable for large corporations managing complex cash positions, as it allows for more precise liquidity management and potentially reduces the need for cash buffers.

For Bank of America specifically, this enhancement strengthens their competitive position in corporate banking, where they already serve 94% of Fortune 500 companies. The integration of higher-value real-time payments with their existing suite of payment solutions (commercial card, ACH, wire transfers) creates a comprehensive treasury management offering that addresses diverse corporate payment needs across different value thresholds and use cases.

NEW YORK, June 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent action from The Clearing House to increase the transaction limit on real-time payments from $1 million to $10 million is fueling new use cases in business-to-business payments among Bank of America clients. The bank is one of the first financial institutions to enable its corporate customers to send payments up to the new transaction limit.

As one of the owners of The Clearing House, Bank of America played a significant role in developing the RTP® network in consultation with peer banks, technology firms and the U.S. Federal Reserve.

"Our clients have been using RTP to pay vendors, employees and customers, but the larger cap has opened up use cases for different kinds of transactions, such as real estate and deal closings and other corporate activity," said AJ McCray, head of Global Payments Products, Global Payments Solutions (GPS) at Bank of America.

In the first six weeks since the transaction limit was raised, BofA corporate clients have increasingly taken advantage of the limit increase, with transactions over $1 million now accounting for more than half the value of all U.S. real-time payments the company is processing.

"The instant nature of real-time payments is a huge advantage for optimizing working capital and cashflow," said Jay Davenport co-head of GPS Global Corporate Sales at Bank of America. "RTP payments embody some of the most commonly requested features from our customers – convenience, transparency and resiliency." 

Key features of the RTP network

• The network operates 24 hours, 7 days a week including holidays and weekends. Payments are settled immediately, regardless of time of day.
• The originator of a payment has transparency into the status of transaction, including whether it has been accepted or rejected.
• The recipient receives a payment within seconds.
• RTP uses ISO 20022, the international standard for financial messaging. This robust message standard offers multiple options for the originator to incorporate detailed remittance information with the payment.

As real time payment adoption continues to rise, companies can explore new applications such as just-in-time supplier payments, complete real-estate transactions, and account to account money movement.  

Bank of America serves 94% of the Fortune 500 and 73% of the Global Fortune 500. Besides U.S. RTP network connectivity, these clients can take advantage of the full range of payment capabilities such as commercial card, ACH, wire and transactional FX solutions, in addition to the bank's own innovations, Recipient Select and Digital Disbursements.

Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 69 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,700 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and award-winning digital banking with approximately 59 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BAC).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.

Reporters may contact:

Louise Hennessy, Bank of America   
Phone: 1.646.858.6471
louise.hennessy@bofa.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bofa-clients-embrace-new-10-million-limit-in-us-real-time-payments-302476607.html

SOURCE Bank of America Corporation

FAQ

What is the new transaction limit for Bank of America's real-time payments?

Bank of America has increased its real-time payment transaction limit from $1 million to $10 million through The Clearing House's RTP network.

How successful has BAC's increased payment limit been with clients?

In the first six weeks after implementation, transactions over $1 million accounted for more than half of all U.S. real-time payment values processed by Bank of America.

What are the key features of Bank of America's RTP network?

The RTP network operates 24/7 including holidays, provides instant settlement, offers transaction status transparency, delivers payments within seconds, and uses ISO 20022 messaging standards.

What new use cases does BAC's increased payment limit enable?

The higher limit enables real estate transactions, deal closings, corporate activities, just-in-time supplier payments, and account-to-account money movement.

What percentage of Fortune 500 companies does Bank of America serve?

Bank of America serves 94% of the Fortune 500 companies and 73% of the Global Fortune 500 companies.