Guidance on Completing the Innovator Exchange Form

This glossary is intended to provide guidance to organizations completing the submission form for the FedNow^® Service Innovator Exchange. If you have any questions about the exchange or the submission process, please email SYSFedNowCommunity@chi.frb.org.

Terms for Question 1 — Please identify your organization’s segment type(s). Below are examples not intended to be an exhaustive list.

Terms for Question 1

Term	Definition
Financial Institution Service Provider	Enables financial institutions to offer instant payments to their customers by providing services such as transaction processing, FedNow connectivity, settlement, fraud management, digital banking channels and more.
End User Service Provider	Offers instant payment services to businesses or consumers, such as point-of-service terminals, accounts payable/receivable, bill payment software and payroll services.
Participating Financial Institution	A financial institution live on the FedNow Service that offers liquidity management, correspondent services, and/or various instant payment solutions to organizations looking to utilize the network (e.g., organizations such as fintechs, payment originating organizations, or industry service providers on behalf of their customers).
Consulting Firm/System Integrator	A company that offers purely advisory services without a product or software solution.

Terms for Question 2 — Please indicate the solutions your organization provides that support the ability to send or receive FedNow instant payments or requests for payments, or that support other FedNow messages or ancillary services.

Terms for Question 2

Term	Definition
Account Tokenization	A provider offering tools to replace account identifiers with unique, non-sensitive tokens that can be used in place of the original data for transactions or storage.
AP/AR/ERP and Treasury Management Systems	A service provider that can integrate with financial institution instant payment offerings, including the FedNow Service, and that offers a software system that assists businesses in automating financial and payment operations such as accounts receivables, payables, cash flow, assets, investments and more.
Banking as a Service (BaaS)	An organization that enables businesses to integrate digital banking and payment services to non-banking companies through API technology or other similar platforms. Providers of BaaS services could also market their product as embedded banking or embedded finance solutions.
Core Banking Platform	A solution provider that can handle essential banking or financial services via a back-end system — for example, transaction processing or account management — to ensure seamless and efficient posting to general ledger systems and reporting tools. A core banking solution can operate independently of payment solutions or provide an all-in-one product.
Correspondent Services	Bankers’ banks: A financial institution that provides correspondent banking products, financial services, and investment and technology solutions to community banks. A bankers’ bank is not typically open to the public. Corporate credit unions: A specific type of credit union not typically open to the public that is formed to provide correspondent settlement services, investment and technology solutions, and financial service capabilities to other credit unions.
Digital User Experience (mobile/online interfaces)	A solution provider for the end-user experience of a financial institution (online and mobile banking experience) that is inclusive of consumer, small business or corporate experiences, and ensures overall user satisfaction.
Digital Wallet Provider	A financial application on a device that allows customers to store funds, track payments and make transactions via e-commerce checkout and person-to-person transfer.
Pay By Bank	A financial entity that enables a range of payment options originated directly from an account at a financial institution. Such payments could be for a broad range of purposes, including bill pay, merchant payments or more.
Payment Hub/Platform/Gateway	A platform that enables financial institutions to build their own payment services that can integrate with multiple internal systems, networks and channels related to payment processing.
Payment Service Provider (PSP)	A solution provider that helps businesses, merchants and retailers accept a wide range of online payment methods such as credit/debit cards, mobile wallets, ACH, wire and instant payments. PSPs can operate via gateway services or a simple API for payment acceptance.
Payment Testing Platform Provider	A platform, sandbox or testing portal that allows organizations to automate testing or simulate end-to-end testing of payment methods, such as the capability to test a service or software product in a Federal Reserve Bank testing environment via an electronic connection.
QR Code Payment Solutions	A service provider that offers various services and solutions related to QR codes, including creation of QR codes for payments and other purposes.
Risk Management and Fraud Services	A service provider that offers tools to detect, prevent and respond to potential threats by using tools, analytics and strategies to safeguard assets and support operational integrity.
Sponsoring Financial Institution	A financial institution (FI) that sponsors a third-party to gain access to Federal Reserve Financial Services’ (FRFS) payment rails, either for testing purposes or to conduct transactions on the FI’s behalf. FIs are responsible for performing due diligence and assume the risk of all activity conducted on their behalf (by the third-party).

Terms for Question 5 — What type of functionality does your organization provide in the market today?

Terms for Question 5

Term	Definition
Receiving FedNow Transactions	Ability to process FedNow messages and payments on behalf of a financial institution.
Sending FedNow Transactions — Consumer Accounts	Ability to support consumer account holders to initiate FedNow instant payments.
Sending FedNow Transactions — Business Accounts	Ability to support business account holders to initiate FedNow instant payments.
RFP Transactions — Consumers Sending	Ability to support consumer account holders to initiate requests for payments from others via FedNow Service.
RFP Transactions — Consumers Receiving	Ability to support consumer account holders to receive and respond to requests for payments via FedNow Service.
RFP Transactions — Businesses Sending	Ability to support business account holders to initiate requests for payments from others via FedNow Service.
RFP Transactions — Businesses Receiving	Ability to support business account holders to receive and respond to requests for payments via FedNow Service.
Liquidity Management Transfers	Support financial institution’s ability to send liquidity management transfers to another financial institution.
FI Staff-Initiated Transactions	Ability for a financial institution’s staff or systems to be able to initiate an instant payment. For example, transactions initiated on behalf of an account holder, loan disbursements, vendor payments, etc.
Correspondent Settlement Services	A financial institution that maintains a master account with a Federal Reserve Bank and that has agreed to maintain a settlement account for another FedNow participant.
Fraud Prevention/Monitoring Services	Offer tools to detect, prevent and respond to potential threats by using tools, analytics and strategies to safeguard assets and support operational integrity.
Back Office/Treasury Management Services	Provide reports, account monitoring and other solutions to support a financial institution to manage its Federal Reserve master account. This may include monitoring respondent activity for a Correspondent participant.
Connectivity to the FedNow Service via FedLine^® Solutions	Should only be selected if your organization currently has an existing FedLine connection or is actively in the process of securing one.
FedNow Profile Management	Offer services to manage settings, lists and other aspects of the FedNow user interface on behalf of a participant.

Innovator Exchange Glossary

This glossary is intended to provide guidance to organizations viewing the Innovator Exchange.

Terms for segment types

Term	Definition
Financial Institution Service Provider	Enables financial institutions to offer instant payments to their customers by providing services such as transaction processing, FedNow connectivity, settlement, fraud management, digital banking channels and more.
End User Service Provider	Offers instant payment services to businesses or consumers, such as point-of-service terminals, accounts payable/receivable, bill payment software and payroll services.
Participating Financial Institution	A financial institution live on the FedNow Service that offers liquidity management, correspondent services, and/or various instant payment solutions to organizations looking to utilize the network (e.g., organizations such as fintechs, payment originating organizations, or industry service providers on behalf of their customers).
Consulting Firm/System Integrator	A company that offers purely advisory services without a product or software solution.

Terms for solution types

Term	Definition
Account Tokenization	A provider offering tools to replace account identifiers with unique, non-sensitive tokens that can be used in place of the original data for transactions or storage.
AP/AR/ERP and Treasury Management Systems	A service provider that can integrate with financial institution instant payment offerings, including the FedNow Service, and that offers a software system that assists businesses in automating financial and payment operations such as accounts receivables, payables, cash flow, assets, investments and more.
Banking as a Service (BaaS)	An organization that enables businesses to integrate digital banking and payment services to non-banking companies through API technology or other similar platforms. Providers of BaaS services could also market their product as embedded banking or embedded finance solutions.
Core Banking Platform	A solution provider that can handle essential banking or financial services via a back-end system — for example, transaction processing or account management — to ensure seamless and efficient posting to general ledger systems and reporting tools. A core banking solution can operate independently of payment solutions or provide an all-in-one product.
Correspondent Services	Bankers’ banks: A financial institution that provides correspondent banking products, financial services, and investment and technology solutions to community banks. A bankers’ bank is not typically open to the public. Corporate credit unions: A specific type of credit union not typically open to the public that is formed to provide correspondent settlement services, investment and technology solutions, and financial service capabilities to other credit unions.
Digital User Experience (mobile/online interfaces)	A solution provider for the end-user experience of a financial institution (online and mobile banking experience) that is inclusive of consumer, small business or corporate experiences, and ensures overall user satisfaction.
Digital Wallet Provider	Ability to support business account holders to initiate requests for A financial application on a device that allows customers to store funds, track payments and make transactions via e-commerce checkout and person-to-person transfer.
Pay By Bank	A financial entity that enables a range of payment options originated directly from an account at a financial institution. Such payments could be for a broad range of purposes, including bill pay, merchant payments or more.
Payment Hub/Platform/ Gateway	A platform that enables financial institutions to build their own payment services that can integrate with multiple internal systems, networks and channels related to payment processing.
Payment Service Provider (PSP)	A solution provider that helps businesses, merchants and retailers accept a wide range of online payment methods such as credit/debit cards, mobile wallets, ACH, wire and instant payments. PSPs can operate via gateway services or a simple API for payment acceptance.
Payment Testing Platform Provider	A platform, sandbox or testing portal that allows organizations to automate testing or simulate end-to-end testing of payment methods, such as the capability to test a service or software product in a Federal Reserve Bank testing environment via an electronic connection.
QR Code Payment Solutions	A service provider that offers various services and solutions related to QR codes, including creation of QR codes for payments and other purposes.
Risk Management and Fraud Services	A service provider that offers tools to detect, prevent and respond to potential threats by using tools, analytics and strategies to safeguard assets and support operational integrity.
Sponsoring Financial Institution	A financial institution (FI) that sponsors a third-party to gain access to Federal Reserve Financial Services’ (FRFS) payment rails, either for testing purposes or to conduct transactions on the FI’s behalf. FIs are responsible for performing due diligence and assume the risk of all activity conducted on their behalf (by the third-party).

Terms for FedNow functionality supported

Term	Definition
Receiving FedNow Transactions	Ability to process FedNow messages and payments on behalf of a financial institution.
Sending FedNow Transactions — Consumer Accounts	Ability to support consumer account holders to initiate FedNow instant payments.
Sending FedNow Transactions — Business Accounts	Ability to support business account holders to initiate FedNow instant payments.
RFP Transactions — Consumers Sending	Ability to support consumer account holders to initiate requests for payments from others via FedNow Service.
RFP Transactions — Consumers Receiving	Ability to support consumer account holders to receive and respond to requests for payments via FedNow Service.
RFP Transactions — Businesses Sending	Ability to support business account holders to initiate requests for payments from others via FedNow Service.
RFP Transactions — Businesses Receiving	Ability to support business account holders to receive and respond to requests for payments via FedNow Service.
Liquidity Management Transfers	Support financial institution’s ability to send liquidity management transfers to another financial institution.
FI Staff-Initiated Transactions	Ability for a financial institution’s staff or systems to be able to initiate an instant payment. For example, transactions initiated on behalf of an account holder, loan disbursements, vendor payments, etc.
Correspondent Settlement Services	A financial institution that maintains a master account with a Federal Reserve Bank and that has agreed to maintain a settlement account for another FedNow participant.
Fraud Prevention/Monitoring Services	Offer tools to detect, prevent and respond to potential threats by using tools, analytics and strategies to safeguard assets and support operational integrity.
Back Office/Treasury Management Services	Provide reports, account monitoring and other solutions to support a financial institution to manage its Federal Reserve master account. This may include monitoring respondent activity for a Correspondent participant.
Connectivity to the FedNow Service via FedLine Solutions	Should only be selected if your organization currently has an existing FedLine connection or is actively in the process of securing one.
FedNow Profile Management	Offer services to manage settings, lists and other aspects of the FedNow user interface on behalf of a participant.

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