XMLdation Launches Buddy Bank™: A Market-First RTP Payments Testing Simulator for U.S. Banks

XMLdation has launched Buddy Bank™, a self-service simulator designed to streamline real-time payments testing on The Clearing House’s RTP® network. For fintech professionals, this addresses the operational bottleneck of manual end-to-end testing, allowing financial institutions to validate ISO 20022-compliant transactions without the need for coordinated testing with external partner banks.

What was announced

XMLdation developed Buddy Bank™ to help financial institutions (FIs) optimize their real-time payments testing. Traditionally, FIs have relied on "friendly banks" to conduct end-to-end tests, a process that is often slow and difficult to coordinate. Buddy Bank™ acts as a self-service simulator that connects directly to the bank testing environment for the RTP network from The Clearing House. By using a dedicated RT and Participant ID, institutions can begin testing with zero integration effort.

The tool is fully aligned with The Clearing House’s recommended test cases, enabling users to run the specific scenarios required for certification. It supports both direct and indirect participants, covering the full spectrum of the RTP journey. The launch comes as internal systems at FIs move toward quarterly updates and payment rails shift to annual update cycles, a significant increase in frequency compared to the pre-ISO 20022 era when changes to ACH and FedWire were rare. XMLdation is also expanding its suite of capabilities to other payments rails across the globe to support client needs and the vision for real-time cross-border payments.

"The RTP network is meeting growing demand for instant payments by enabling financial institutions to provide their customers with immediate, 24/7 payments. We’re also focused on making it easier for financial institutions to adopt and expand their use of the network. By working with companies like XMLdation, financial institutions can access robust testing capabilities that help support organizations throughout their RTP journey."

Susan Meyer, Vice President, RTP Technical Product Management at The Clearing House.

The companies involved

XMLdation Ltd is a cloud-based provider of payments testing solutions that has been operating since 2009. The company specializes in ISO 20022 expertise and focuses on providing self-service tools for banks and market infrastructures. With a corporate identity rooted in "Nordic thinking," the firm has established a global presence by simplifying the complex validation processes required for modern payment standards. Tricia Balfe serves as the CEO of XMLdation.

The Clearing House (TCH) is a central pillar of the United States' financial infrastructure. It operates the RTP® network, the first new core payments system in the U.S. in more than 40 years, which provides real-time clearing and settlement. TCH is owned by many of the world's largest commercial banks and plays a critical role in the evolution of the American payments landscape, managing trillions of dollars in daily volume across various rails including ACH and wire transfers. Together, these organizations are addressing the technical hurdles that prevent smaller or less agile institutions from fully utilizing instant payment rails.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has tracked the steady expansion of the RTP® network and its ecosystem of partners. Recently, we covered how TCH and Quant Partner to Power US Tokenized Deposit Network for Banks, highlighting the infrastructure’s move toward digital assets. The certification process for the network is a recurring theme in the industry; we previously reported that Finzly Achieves RTP Network Certification for Request for Payment to Drive Instant Pay-by-Bank Adoption. Additionally, the broader push for real-time capabilities was seen when Dream Payments Launches Dream Payouts with J.P. Morgan to Enable Real-Time Business Payments. We also noted the educational efforts surrounding these shifts in Alacriti Launches Nationwide Payments Masterclass Roadshow for Financial Institutions.

What this means

This announcement signals a shift in the maturity of the real-time payments market. As the industry moves away from the rare, static updates of the ACH era toward the high-velocity environment of ISO 20022, the "friendly bank" testing model is no longer sustainable. The pressure is now on legacy core providers and smaller financial institutions to keep pace with annual rail updates without ballooning their operational costs. By automating the simulation of a counterparty, the industry is effectively lowering the barrier to entry for RTP participation. The open question remains whether this self-service model will become the standard for cross-border real-time rails as they begin to interlink globally.