ACI Worldwide is eyeing international opportunities coupled with increasing adoption of real-time and commercial payments to grow operations in 2025.

The $5.2 billion global payments company this year developed a hub called ACI Connetic that routes payments in the most efficient way to complete the transaction, Tom Warsop, chief executive, told Bank Automation News. 

“We connect products that banks have been using for a long time,” Warsop said.  

Card payments, Magnetic Secure Transmission wires, SWIFT and small dollar instant payments, among others, will be available through the Connetic hub, giving FIs payment options, Philip Bruno, chief strategy and growth officer at ACI, told BAN. 

The company is targeting corporations, credit unions and large financial institutions that aim to reduce payment friction by using different payment rails and prefer having one hub for all payment needs, Bruno said, adding that commercial payments will drive volume on Connetic. 

The cloud-native solution is easy for financial services companies to use, and Connectic can be easily integrated into existing payment modules, Warsop said. 

“The gives customers comfort of using the platforms they’ve used for a long time,” which will aid in adoption of the payments hub, Warsop said. 

Other Fis, including BNY and payments provider Melio, are also rolling out their payments hubs to reduce friction. 

Instant payment growth 

Instant payment adoption is bound to increase over time, Bruno said. Some countries have mandated real-time payments and the U.S. has two real-time payments channels in FedNow and The Clearing House’s RTP. 

“Double-digit growth is happening in real-time payments around the world,” Bruno said, adding that specific uses will drive adoption higher. 

“It’s great to have pipes that will pipe water into your house,” Bruno said. “But what people really want is, they want dishwashers and washing machines and showers and things that they will use and turn that into the function.” 

In the United States, commercial payments and government disbursement would replace “dishwasher” and “shower,” Bruno said. 

Another payment option, peer-to-peer network Zelle, has had success providing instant payments for retail clients, Bruno said. FedNow and RTP, the two instant payment networks will grow on the back of commercial and government payments, Bruno said. 

International expansion, M&A 

ACI’s operations span more than 95 countries, and the company is considering further expansion, Warsop said. 

Regions where ACI has no operations will be prime targets for expansion, Warsop said. 

Merger and acquisition to expand into such markets is a strategy that ACI might explore because “that might be the fastest way to expand to a new geography,” Warsop said. 

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