Speed with guardrails: How Visa Direct × Cross River enable real‑time* money movement securely at scale

Problem: businesses need real-time* payouts to win customers and control costs, but they’re blocked by fragmented rails, “receive‑only” bank enablement, fraud and compliance risk, and integrations that stall go‑to‑market. This blog answers how to cut through that complexity. We’ll show why card-based rails lead for coverage and time‑to‑value, and how Visa Direct × Cross River combine global reach with bank‑grade guardrails—pre‑transaction validation, continuous monitoring, and program governance— to help businesses facilitate secure money movement that’s fast, trusted, and scalable. By the end, you’ll know what to evaluate, where account-based options fall short today, and how Visa Direct and Cross River can help enable secure, real-time* payouts—without a core overhaul.

The Real-Time Payments Landscape: Why Card-Based Rails Lead

The U.S. faster payments ecosystem includes a variety of options for businesses and financial institutions. Account-based instant payment systems—such as RTP® and FedNow—are important developments, but they are still in early stages of adoption for certain capabilities.¹ Many financial institutions currently support receiving payments on these networks but have not yet enabled sending capabilities. This is often called “receive-only mode,” meaning the bank can accept incoming real-time payments but cannot originate them yet. Enabling full send functionality typically requires significant technology and operational changes.

By contrast, card-based real-time payments are already proven at scale. Visa Direct processed over 9.5 billion transactions in fiscal year 2024 (FY2024),² making it one of the most frequently used faster-payment solutions in the U.S..¹ Why? Because it leverages existing card infrastructure—no new accounts, no new credentials, and no dependency on whether both parties’ banks are enabled for sending and receiving.

Why Visa Direct × Cross River is Different

In a recent Visa study of SMBs³—from independent sellers to mid-sized businesses—speed ranked as the most important attribute in a payment provider, yet adoption of real-time options lags because businesses also need trust, transparency, and simplicity.³ Visa Direct and Cross River address these needs head-on.

Visa Direct: Reach, Speed, and Security

• Global coverage: Connectivity to 195+ enabled countries and territories, support for 150+ currencies, and access to 11B+ endpoints (cards, accounts, and wallets).
• Operational simplicity: Uses existing card credentials, reducing friction for both sender and recipient.
• Layered security: Visa Direct provides Value-Added Solutions (VAS) such as Account Name Inquiry (ANI) and Account Verification (AV) to validate recipient details before funds move, while core network security features include real-time risk scoring for fraud detection and tokenization to protect sensitive account information.**

Cross River: Bank-Grade Guardrails

As a federally regulated sponsor bank,⁴ Cross River brings:

• Compliance oversight: OFAC screening, PCI DSS readiness, and program-level controls.
• Risk management: Continuous monitoring and governance to keep programs aligned with regulatory expectations.
• Operational resilience: Infrastructure designed to support high-volume, real-time* disbursements without compromising security.

Together, Visa Direct and Cross River combine speed with trust—a pairing that account-based rails cannot easily replicate at scale.

Why Card-Based Real-Time Payments Offer Advantages

• Faster to market: With card-based rails, like Visa Direct, banks typically do not need to undertake the same level of core system overhaul or wait for send enablement as is often required with account-based networks such as RTP® and FedNow.¹
• Broader reach: Visa Direct connects to billions of endpoints globally, whereas RTP® and FedNow offer moderate to low U.S. bank coverage.¹
• Cross-border capability: Visa Direct supports cross-border payouts^†; RTP® and FedNow are currently domestic-only.¹
• Security at scale: Visa’s network intelligence and VAS tools provide pre-transaction validation and fraud mitigation, addressing risks in ways that may not be available through account-based systems.

Key Considerations When Evaluating Real-Time Payments

When choosing a real-time payment solution, businesses should weigh these factors:

• Coverage and Endpoint Diversity: Does the solution reach your local and global customers and support multiple payout types (cards, accounts, wallets)? Limited coverage can hinder your business’s growth into new use cases, like remittances.
  Visa Direct offers broad reach to 11B+ endpoints, including 4B+ eligible cards, 3.5B+ accounts, and 3.5B+ digital wallets, across 195+ enabled countries and territories, enabling businesses to efficiently expand their payout capabilities.
• Compliance and Risk Management: How will you meet regulatory obligations and manage fraud risk at scale? Without strong oversight, businesses can face operational risk and reputational damage.
  Cross River provides bank-grade compliance and program governance, helping ensure adherence to regulatory requirements while reducing operational burden.^{4, 5}
• Integration and Operational Impact: Can you enable real-time payouts without a costly core overhaul? Account-based rails often require deep integration with new clearing systems and core banking updates—changes that can take months and delay time-to-market.¹
  Visa Direct leverages the existing card network and credentials businesses already use for refunds and payouts, reducing integration complexity and accelerating deployment.
• Security Layers: Are there pre-transaction checks, tokenization, and authentication options to protect against fraud and misdirected payments? Weak controls can lead to losses and erode customer trust.
  Visa Direct provides layered security through VAS (ANI, AV) and network-level real-time risk scoring, while Cross River adds bank-grade oversight—continuous transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, and compliance governance—helping businesses mitigate fraud and regulatory risk without slowing the experience.
• Customer Experience: Will the solution deliver speed and transparency without adding complexity for your users? Poor UX can drive churn and limit adoption.
  Visa Direct enables real-time* payouts using the same card credentials customers already provide for payments—eliminating the need to collect sensitive bank account details and creating a faster, more trusted experience.

Turning Speed into Strategy

Real-time payments are no longer optional—they’re a growth imperative. But speed alone isn’t enough. Businesses need solutions that combine reach, security, compliance, and customer experience without adding complexity. Visa Direct and Cross River deliver exactly that: a proven, a proven, scalable solution that enables businesses to move money quickly—with the guardrails enterprises expect and the experience customer’s demand.