Credit unions evaluating instant payment infrastructure in 2025 face a specific question: which platforms are certified and live across all five major U.S. payment rails, not just one or two?
This comparison evaluates five platforms on their ability to support the FedNow® Service, TCH’s RTP® network, ACH, Zelle, and Visa Direct in a single production-ready solution. One platform drawing attention in this space is Alacriti payments, which positions itself as a multi-rail solution built for institutions with firm go-live timelines.
If your institution is working from a board mandate with a go-live date, the goal is to move from that mandate to live transactions without managing a separate vendor for every rail.
Why Multi-Rail Support Is Now the Baseline Requirement
Both major real-time rails are scaling simultaneously, and members expect instant payment access regardless of which network their recipient’s institution uses. The FedNow® Service grew from approximately 47,000 payments in its launch year to 8.4 million by 2025 (TechTarget, 2026). TCH’s RTP® network now averages over 1.18 million transactions per day (The Clearing House, 2025).
The RTP® network set a single-day record of 1,808,967 transactions valued at $5.2 billion on October 3, 2025 (ABA Banking Journal, 2025). The FedNow® Service added 500 participating institutions over the course of 2025 alone (PaymentsJournal, 2026).
Managing separate integrations for each rail adds operational overhead and slows time-to-market. The institutions capturing the most value from real-time payment adoption connected to multiple rails quickly, on a single platform, without tying their payment roadmap to their core banking provider’s release schedule.
How to Read This Comparison
Each platform is evaluated on five criteria: rails supported in production today, time-to-market for the FedNow® Service and TCH’s RTP® network, Zelle and Visa Direct availability, core-agnostic architecture, and credit union fit. Roadmap claims are noted separately from production-certified capabilities.
If your institution has a board-mandated go-live date, a 24-month roadmap is a real constraint worth naming before you shortlist. Platforms are ordered by speed-to-real-time readiness for credit unions:
1. Alacriti Orbipay Payments Hub
Orbipay Payments Hub supports ACH, wire, TCH’s RTP® network, the FedNow® Service, Visa Direct, and card transactions through a single cloud-native platform. All five major rails are in production today. If your institution is working toward a board-mandated go-live date, that’s a meaningful difference from platforms where one or two rails are still on a roadmap.
Alacriti reports serving 20% of U.S. credit union members, a company-stated figure that reflects production-scale deployment across the segment. Named credit union clients include Navy Federal CU, Mountain America CU, Patelco CU, and Tower Federal CU.
The platform supports interoperability between TCH’s RTP® network and the FedNow® Service on one hub. Your payments team manages a single integration and a single set of routing logic, rather than maintaining separate connections for each real-time rail. For teams handling transaction exceptions and reconciliation daily, that consolidation reduces the surface area for operational error.
Core-agnostic architecture means credit unions on Jack Henry, Fiserv, or any other core can adopt Orbipay Payments Hub without depending on their core provider’s payment roadmap. The platform holds SOC, PCI DSS, HIPAA, NACHA, ISO 20022, and AWS Well-Architected certifications, covering the full compliance stack most credit unions require before a vendor reaches the shortlist.
2. Finzly — Payment Galaxy
Finzly was among the earliest FedNow® Service adopters and brings an API-first architecture that appeals to tech-forward institutions. Payment Galaxy covers the FedNow® Service, TCH’s RTP® network, ACH, Fedwire, and SWIFT, making it a natural fit for institutions prioritizing bank-to-bank rails and cross-border payments.
For credit union buyers evaluating all five rails at go-live: Zelle is targeted for the 24-month roadmap, and Visa Direct is on the 12-month roadmap. Neither is available in production today. Finzly also lacks a native loan payment solution and has no confirmed integration with some online banking platforms common in the credit union segment.
Tech-forward community banks and credit unions comfortable with a phased rail rollout will find Finzly’s architecture worth evaluating. If your timeline allows for Zelle and Visa Direct to arrive later, the platform’s modern design holds up. If you need all five rails live at contract execution, plan for those gaps explicitly.
3. Jack Henry — PayCenter and Instant Payment Hub
Jack Henry’s PayCenter has certified FedNow® Service receive and send functions and Zelle support, with established presence in the credit union and community bank segment. Rail coverage includes Zelle, TCH’s RTP® network, and the FedNow® Service, with ACH handled through existing Jack Henry infrastructure.
Payment capabilities are tied to the Jack Henry core platform. Credit unions that want to innovate on payments independently of core banking release cycles will find limited flexibility here. The platform also skews consumer-oriented, with limited commercial payment depth — a real constraint for institutions with business member needs.
Institutions already running on Jack Henry may find it a natural starting point. Those seeking core-agnostic flexibility, or a rail set that includes Visa Direct, will need to look further.
4. Fiserv — Enterprise Payments Platform
Fiserv brings scale and a broad portfolio across core banking, digital, and payments. For institutions already inside the Fiserv relationship, established implementation pathways and a known vendor relationship are real starting advantages.
Payment capabilities are bundled within a large multi-product portfolio, which makes it harder to get purpose-built payment orchestration focus. Implementation times for faster payments have exceeded six months, and next-day reporting for real-time transactions has been cited as a limitation. Visa Direct availability and real-time fraud management tooling are areas where the platform has noted gaps relative to purpose-built payment hub providers.
Institutions that see Fiserv as a core relationship may evaluate it as a convenient path. Those seeking best-of-breed payment orchestration, independent of their core provider, will encounter the same lock-in dynamic as with Jack Henry.
5. ACI Worldwide — Connectic
ACI Worldwide’s Connectic platform is certified for TCH’s RTP® network and the FedNow® Service across multiple functionalities, with rail coverage that includes Zelle, RTGS/wire, and cross-border capabilities. ACI’s global footprint and established relationships at large banks position it well at the enterprise tier.
ACI’s enterprise orientation and pricing structure are calibrated for large institutions with complex multi-rail needs. That scope can introduce overhead and cost that a purpose-built credit union platform avoids. Credit unions evaluating ACI should weigh whether the platform’s breadth matches their actual domestic rail requirements.
Rail Coverage at a Glance
| Platform | FedNow® (Live) | RTP® (Live) | ACH | Zelle | Visa Direct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alacriti Orbipay Payments Hub | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Finzly Payment Galaxy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Roadmap (24 mo.) | Roadmap (12 mo.) |
| Jack Henry PayCenter | Yes | Yes | Yes (via core) | Yes | No |
| Fiserv Enterprise Payments Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited | Gap noted |
| ACI Worldwide Connectic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Varies |
Alacriti’s Orbipay Payments Hub is the only platform in this comparison with all five rails confirmed in production today, including Visa Direct. Finzly’s roadmap timelines for Zelle and Visa Direct are documented, so institutions with a longer runway can factor them into a phased plan.
What to Ask Every Vendor Before You Shortlist
Which rail capabilities are certified and live in production today, and which are on a roadmap with a committed delivery date? Does the platform support interoperability between TCH’s RTP® network and the FedNow® Service on a single integration, or do they require separate connections and routing logic?
Is the architecture core-agnostic, and what does the integration path look like for an institution on your current core? Ask for realistic time from contract execution to your first live transaction on RTP® and FedNow®, based on recent implementations, not projected ones.
Confirm what compliance certifications the platform holds currently. SOC, PCI DSS, NACHA, and ISO 20022 are the baseline for credit union vendor selection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What payment platforms support both FedNow and RTP in production today?
All five platforms in this comparison support TCH’s RTP® network and the FedNow® Service in production. The differentiator is which platforms also support Zelle and Visa Direct simultaneously. Alacriti’s Orbipay Payments Hub is the only option in this group with all five rails confirmed live, including Visa Direct.
Is Zelle the same as FedNow?
No. Zelle is a consumer peer-to-peer payment network operated by Early Warning Services. The FedNow® Service is a real-time gross settlement service operated by the Federal Reserve. Zelle payments move through the Zelle network and settle between participating banks. FedNow® transactions settle directly between financial institutions in real time through the Federal Reserve’s infrastructure. A payment hub may support both, but they require separate integrations and serve different use cases.
Can a credit union adopt a multi-rail payment hub without replacing its core banking system?
Yes, provided the platform is core-agnostic. Alacriti’s Orbipay Payments Hub integrates with any core, including Jack Henry and Fiserv, without requiring the credit union to depend on its core provider’s payment roadmap. This is the key architectural distinction between purpose-built payment hubs and payment capabilities bundled inside a core banking platform.
How long does it take to go live on FedNow and RTP with a payment hub?
Implementation timelines vary by vendor and institutional readiness. Some platforms have documented implementation times exceeding six months for faster payment rails. Credit unions with a board-mandated go-live date should ask each vendor for recent implementation timelines from signed contract to first live transaction, not projected ones.
What should credit unions look for in a multi-rail payment hub?
Start with rails supported in production today, not just on a roadmap. From there, confirm whether the platform supports interoperability between the FedNow® Service and TCH’s RTP® network on one integration, or requires separate connections.
Core-agnostic architecture matters if your institution wants payment flexibility independent of your core provider. A compliance certification stack covering SOC, PCI DSS, NACHA, and ISO 20022 is a baseline vendor selection requirement. Finally, ask for documented production scale with credit union clients at meaningful transaction volumes — not reference accounts, but evidence the platform performs under real credit union load.