Unit has launched Real-Time Payments (RTP), connecting directly to The Clearing House to enable instant transfers 24/7/365.
The new rail allows Unit’s clients to send and receive payments within seconds at any time, including weekends and public holidays. Unit connected directly to The Clearing House, the operator of the RTP network, without relying on an intermediary processor. The capability runs on the same Payments API, native ledger, and dashboard that Unit already uses for ACH, wire, cheque, and international payments, so existing clients can access it without moving to a separate platform.
Addressing gaps in the US settlement calendar
According to the announcement, ACH transfers in the US settle only on business days, and wires stop processing at the end of each business day. In 2026, this leaves 114 days on which neither rail settles: 104 weekend days and ten Federal Reserve holidays, or close to one in every three days of the year. On seven occasions this year, a holiday extends the delay across a three-day weekend.
The company describes two scenarios to show the practical effect. A business that initiates a supplier payment via ACH on a Friday evening will not see it land until the next business day. Funds received from a customer on a Saturday likewise remain unusable until then. With RTP, the Friday payment reaches the supplier the same night, and the Saturday payment is available within seconds.
Platform capabilities
Payments can be sent from and received into accounts that end customers already hold with Unit’s clients. Incoming credits are final under network rules, so funds can be used on arrival. As with other rails, however, received RTP payments may be returned after settlement in limited circumstances.
Before a payment is sent, the platform checks whether the recipient’s bank can receive RTP, which lets a client’s code select the rail programmatically. Each payment carries the network’s rejection codes and transaction ID, and a TimedOut status flags payments that do not resolve. Clients can attach tags to transactions, such as order or invoice IDs. Idempotent retries prevent duplicate payments, and incoming payments include the sender’s account details.
One ledger across multiple rails
Because RTP sits alongside Unit’s other rails, clients can combine them within a single build. The company gives several examples. A platform could pay a seller over RTP as soon as an order is confirmed, with the order ID already recorded on the ledger entry. It could check whether a recipient’s bank supports RTP and fall back to ACH automatically if it does not. It could receive an RTP payment into a customer’s account on a Sunday and let the customer spend it on a Unit card minutes later. It could also take funding via RTP on a Saturday and pay a vendor by wire the following Monday, all from one balance.
The launch places instant settlement within an existing multi-rail setup rather than offering it as a standalone product. Rail selection and fallback are handled at the API level, so platforms building on Unit can choose between instant and next business day settlement in their own application logic, payment by payment.
