CHICAGO, Dec. 5, 2019 – The Federal Reserve System today announced it has joined the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) (Off-site) as a founding sponsor.

“Our payment system is a vital part of America’s infrastructure that touches everyone,” said Esther George, president and chief executive officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and sponsor of the Federal Reserve’s payments improvement initiative. “We can collectively achieve safe, widely available faster payments capabilities that will benefit all by working together with the U.S. Faster Payments Council and other payments stakeholders.”

The FPC and its members seek to facilitate faster payments in the United States, enabling Americans to securely pay anyone, anywhere, at any time with near-immediate funds availability. Its priorities include faster payments education and fraud mitigation.

“The Federal Reserve supports the FPC’s priorities, and we look forward to contributing to its work as a founding sponsor and active participant,” said Kenneth C. Montgomery, first vice president and chief operating officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and FedNowSM program executive. “We also anticipate robust dialogue within the FPC as the Federal Reserve develops its FedNow Service. Once in place, this service will provide critical interbank real-time gross settlement and integrated clearing infrastructure to enable financial institutions of all sizes to offer real-time payments services for their retail and commercial customers.”

Connie Theien, senior vice president and director, payments industry relations, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, will represent the Federal Reserve on the FPC and coordinate its participation in FPC work groups and other engagements.

“In many ways, the Fed’s collaboration with the industry to advance faster payments has come full circle, from our work to facilitate the Faster Payments Task Force to full membership in the FPC,” Theien said. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to work together to design the faster payments ecosystem from the ground up. Ongoing collaboration is essential for addressing the opportunities and challenges ahead, encouraging faster payments adoption and further transforming the U.S. payment system.”

The Federal Reserve convened the Faster Payments Task Force in 2015. In 2017, the task force recommended development of a faster payments governance framework that eventually became the FPC. The Federal Reserve provided early support and facilitation of the FPC’s design and creation in 2018.

About the Federal Reserve and Payments

As the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve System provides payment services and seeks to foster the stability, integrity and efficiency of the nation’s monetary, financial and payment systems. In 2013, the Federal Reserve initiated a broadly collaborative effort to enhance the end-to-end speed, security and efficiency of payments in the United States. The 2015 Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System (PDF) paper defined five desired outcomes and strategies for pursuing advancements in speed, security, efficiency and international payments through stakeholder collaboration. For more information, visit FedPaymentsImprovement.org.