The final payment in a new or used car sale is generallly a cashier's check, cash, or maybe an ACH transaction. Each one is familiar to buyers and sellers, but each also has limitations. The seller needs to get a cashier's check during banking hours, which is problematic in the evenings or on weekends when many car sales are finalized. ACH payments are also limited by business hours and the ACH transaction windows. Cash, while convenient, is also risky when thousands of dollars are being exchanged. Real-time payments over the RTP network removes all of these potential payment frictions from the sales process.

Lithia Motors, one of the largest automobile dealers in the United States and owner of the Driveway.com used-car marketplace, recently started to send real-time payments to sellers on Driveway.com to help remove friction with the payment. TD Auto Finance, a division of TD Bank, recently rolled otu real-time payment for auto dealers.

Now, with real-time payments over the RTP network, sellers can receive payment for their vehicle even before it leaves the driveway and auto dealers can receive payment immediately as well. The result is a smoother sales process that removes the uncertainty with slower forms of payments and gets funds to the seller or dealer immediately.