General

Partnering to better payments

November 2011

If you have ever wondered where the Federal Reserve Banks get ideas for new and improved services, the answer is simple. They come from you, our customers. In 2011, more than 2,000 individuals from financial institutions large and small participated in our advisory groups, focus groups, product development surveys and customer satisfaction surveys. These rich interactions were instrumental in setting our priorities for service improvements and new offerings for 2011 and into the future. 

 

Simple, all-in-one offerings

One clear theme in feedback from smaller financial institutions has been simplicity. While many customers value the flexibility to assemble a customized set of services from á la carte offerings, many have asked for a simple, full-service package. In response, we introduced FedComplete^SM Packages to accommodate the desire for more streamlined, affordable service packages for financial institutions with lower transaction volumes. These packages bundle Federal Reserve Financial Services payment transactions and fixed fees with access services for a single monthly fee, and were designed to enable use of a complete suite of electronic payment services that deliver simplicity and interoperability with business systems.  Introduced in February 2011 and expanded last month, FedComplete Packages provide an opportunity for improved value and service to more than 4,000 smaller financial institutions.

 

Continued focus on risk management

Continued concern about risk management has been another common theme in customer feedback. While many financial institutions have expressed appreciation for our automated clearing house (ACH) origination monitoring services, we received just as many requests for improved risk offerings for receiving depository financial institutions (RDFIs). The introduction of the Federal Reserve Banks’ informational FedACH Risk^® RDFI Alert Service in 2008 served as a valuable starting point for helping RDFIs mitigate risk in their ACH processing.

Based on requests and feedback from early adopters of the service, we implemented enhancements to the service in early 2011 designed to help provide even greater protection against errors and risk. The RDFI Alert Service email notifications help provide an early-warning system that allows valuable time for researching atypical items, helping minimize risk and inconvenience. 

 

Global payments network expansion

As global business is expanding, the Federal Reserve Banks are responding to customer demand for easy, low cost, efficient cross-border payment solutions.  In 2009, we launched FedGlobal^® ACH Payments and we expanded those options in 2010.  While we currently offer the ability to send cross-border ACH credit payments to more than 35 countries around the world, plus debit payments to Canada, we continue to evaluate expansion of our cross-border payments capabilities. 

In the article “Meeting cross-border payment needs today and tomorrow”, we shared details about a March 2011 survey in which you indicated regions of most interest, today and in the future.  About half of those surveyed consider Canada and Mexico to be the most important payment regions today, followed by Europe, China or Japan.  Europe and China are expected to be the most important regions for business account-to-account cross-border payments in the future, while China and Central America were named as the most important regions for consumer account-to-cash cross-border payments. 

Based on this survey data, we are beginning to explore opportunities that exist in additional markets as part of our ongoing commitment to provide the benefits of electronic transactions and robust information services across a truly global payments network.

 

Electronification of B2B payments

Over the past several years, the Federal Reserve Banks have been working with the industry to identify barriers that exist in moving business-to-business (B2B) transactions to electronic payments and working to overcome those obstacles. The Federal Reserve Banks conducted research in 2008 to solicit feedback from Fedwire^® Funds Service participants and other interested parties on possible changes for cover payments and business remittance information to enhance the attractiveness of funds transfer as an option for these payments.

In the article "We're counting down to new Fedwire Funds Service message format changes. Are you ready?  ", we shared that after years of industry research and collaboration among stakeholders at financial institutions, corporations and payment groups a new Fedwire Funds Service customer transfer plus (CTP) message will be launched later this month.  This enhancement will support an improved cover payments solution, extended business remittance information, payment notification and better alignment with SWIFT^® message formats. 

The new message format is an industrywide change driven by your feedback, and will help improve straight-through processing of B2B payments and increase efficiency related to the processing of wire transfer messages.

 

Continuing collaboration

The Federal Reserve Banks value your input as we strive to meet your needs for secure, reliable and stable payments services. Your feedback has been invaluable in enhancing existing services and shaping new product offerings.  Whether provided through formal surveys and group membership or shared informally on FRBservices.org or with your account executive, your ideas and feedback are welcome, appreciated and critical to our ongoing mutual success.

 

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