In Control with Natasha Vernier How To Move Money with Will Messina, CEO & Co-Founder of Grailpay
Jan 29, 2026
Will Messina, CEO and co-founder of GrailPay, builds infrastructure and risk decisioning for business payments. He unpacks US payment rails like ACH, wires, RTP/FedNow, and why checks persist. Short takes cover why wires cost so much, how Venmo and Zelle manage instant transfers, and the promise of stablecoins and tokenized deposits for settlement.
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US Payments Are A Patchwork Of Rails
- The US payments landscape lacks a single universal rail and varies by use case and risk appetite.
- ACH, wires, RTP/FedNow and checks each trade off speed, cost and fraud exposure.
Choose Wires For Speed, ACH For Pulls
- Use wires for speed and ACH for recurring pulls because only ACH supports merchant-initiated debits.
- Expect ACH to be slower and wires to be costly due to operational risk and irrevocability.
Real-Time Rails Face A Cold-Start Problem
- RTP and FedNow are low-cost rails that enable instant settlement but face adoption and sender-side limitations.
- Many banks can receive real-time payments but far fewer can initiate them today.