The 2025 National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) will take place June 16-18 at the Westin Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa. A panel session titled, “The Impact and Benefits of Instant Payments to Real Estate Settlement Services,” is set for the final day of the conference.
The session will feature Rick Bruhn, head of specialty deposit and payment solutions at Associated Bank; Tim Boike, vice president of industry relations and engagement at Federal Reserve Financial Services; and James Colassano, senior vice president of product development and strategy at The Clearing House (TCH).
The speakers will address how instant payments — through the Federal Reserve’s FedNow service and TCH’s Real-Time Payments network — are reshaping the industry by reducing payment friction and increasing operational efficiency.
“Instant payment clearing and settlement is in the early stages of significantly and positively changing the real estate transactional environment,” Boike said. “Progressive leaders in this space are already leveraging the benefits of FedNow Service-enabled instant payments and capturing opportunities to differentiate themselves as innovators in the industry.”
Bruhn emphasized that “RFP functionality could drastically reduce if not eliminate wire fraud” and comes with enumerable advantages, as several professionals have found.
“I believe there are many agents in the industry that have embraced instant payments and found ways to utilize it to their businesses benefits, while many other agents are unaware of instant payments and how they function as well as why they are similar to wires in almost every way except that they can be sent 24/7/365,” Bruhn said.
Boike has no shortage of enthusiasm for the subject matter given how critical secure automated clearinghouse transactions are to the real estate industry and what a “game-changer” instant payment services are proving to be.
“From the ability to immediately transfer earnest money deposits on a weekend to sending a just-in-time down payment for closing, using instant payments for both collections and disbursements can help property developers, managers and owners better manage cash flow, improve operational efficiency and reduce risk exposure,” he said. “With instant payments, participants in the closing process can be paid immediately rather than waiting for an ACH credit or check to clear, including seller and mortgage payoffs, real estate broker/agent commissions, title insurance premiums and closing fees, among others.”
Bruhn, a long-time NS3 participant, said, “It’s my favorite industry event of the year. It is an honor to speak again at NS3.”
For more information on NS3 2025, including the agenda for all three days, click here. You can register for NS3 online here.