FedNow Instant Payments Starts to Take Shape

Approximately one year after the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the Fed) announced its intent to become a real time payments operator, updates have been announced that give shape to what can be expected from FedNow Instant Payments.

The Fed is sticking to its planned deadline of 2023 or 2024 to offer a real time messaging and settlement system. It will take a staged approach to provide as much functionality to the market as quickly as possible. Plans do not yet articulate how FedNow and a competing solution from The Clearing House will coexist to reach all domestic account holders.