what is straight through processing stp 
straight through processing is an automated process done purely through electronic transfers with no manual intervention involved its popular uses are in payment processing as well as the processing of securities trades any company involved with straight through processing will need to have the necessary systems and technical networking in place to facilitate stp efficiency understanding stpgenerally straight through processing is most well known in the areas of payments and securities trading however in general it is a methodology that could be implemented in a variety of technical scenarios in all areas of stp the technology for stp is constantly evolving in payments cryptocurrencies and fintech providers have introduced much faster types of straight through processing particularly as alternatives to banks paymentsstraight through processing is an innovation that has developed alongside the integration of computers and computer programming in the early 1970s automated clearing houses ach networks began development 1 the society for worldwide interbank financial telecommunication swift was also founded around this time 2 swift and ach significantly upgraded banking payment transfers from a previous telegraphic system which involved a single operator typing telegraphic transfer orders through morse code ach was first introduced in the united states by the federal reserve bank of san francisco mostly as a solution for payroll direct deposits 3 the 1970s brought about the first efforts for stp in bank payments since the 1970s ach and swift networking has grown though these two systems form the main framework for most all domestic and global payment transfers any financial service provider who wants to be in the payment processing business will need to link up with a payment processing network for facilitating electronic stp in general most all electronic payment processing is considered stp however advanced coding within payment networks can be added to flag or stop suspicious transactions for the alerting of security specialists ach and swift were groundbreaking introductions that changed the capabilities for banks and also created a vast array of opportunities for financial technology platforms stp itself has increased the efficiency and speed of payments domestically and globally stp streamlines the use of payment and routing information so that the instructions don t need to be manually entered 