Federal Reserve Launches New Tools and Support to Accelerate Industry Readiness for Instant Payments
October 20, 2021
CHICAGO — The Federal Reserve today launched new resources for the U.S. payments industry to facilitate education, preparation and ecosystem innovation in support of instant payments, a type of faster payment that provides payees with immediate access to funds, enabled by real-time final settlement between financial institutions.
“End users have accelerated their use of digital payments, including instant payments,” said Shonda Clay, the Federal Reserve’s chief of customer and industry engagement. “The Federal Reserve is offering new tools to help payments stakeholders better understand and address this market, including providing instant payments education and helping them prepare to adopt the FedNowSM Service for instant payments when it is launched in 2023.”
The Federal Reserve’s new instant payment tools and support include:
- The FedNow Explorer website (Off-site), an experiential platform designed to educate and engage financial institutions and service providers with curated content and business tools to support their instant payments journey. The website will offer different learning path options for guided or self-guided exploration. Content includes instant payment basics; how the FedNow Service works; information about FedNow features, functionality and use cases; and how to plan and prepare for the FedNow Service.
- The Ecosystem Accelerator Group, a new user group within the FedNow Community that will provide payment processors, core banking system providers, mobile and online banking platform providers, payment hubs and gateways, bill pay/presentment service providers and others the opportunity to:
- Influence FedNow Service design and release priorities.
- Participate in programs designed for the needs and interests of solution developers and providers.
- Ask technical questions and obtain answers relevant to this ecosystem group.
- Network with the broader FedNow Community and potential partners among financial institutions, other service providers and business clients.
- A new Service Provider Showcase to support end-to-end development of the instant payments ecosystem and FedNow Service implementation. The online showcase will enable service providers to highlight their technical and consultative capabilities related to instant payments. Service providers who are members of the Ecosystem Accelerator Group will be able to submit their information and solutions for the showcase starting later this year for broad exposure on the FedNow Explorer website (Off-site) in early 2022.
For more information about the FedNow Service and these and other instant payment resources, visit the FedNow Explorer website (Off-site).
About the FedNow Service
The Federal Reserve Banks are developing the FedNow Service to facilitate nationwide reach of instant payment services by financial institutions — regardless of size or geographic location — around the clock, every day of the year. Through financial institutions participating in the FedNow Service, businesses and individuals will be able to send and receive instant payments at any time of day, and recipients will have full access to funds immediately, giving them greater flexibility to manage their money and make time-sensitive payments. Access will be provided through the Federal Reserve’s FedLine® network, which serves more than 10,000 financial institutions directly or through their agents. For more information, visit FedNow.org.