WASHINGTON—NAFCU, CUNA and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) have jointly urged the Federal Reserve to serve an "operational role" in the process of improving real-time payments.
In a letter to Fed leaders, NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger was joined by Independent Community Bankers of America President and CEO Camden Fine and CUNA President and CEO Jim Nussle in calling on the Fed to "to go one step further" beyond its leadership role in having created the Faster and Secure Payments Task Forces.
"Beyond settlement capabilities, our organizations see three possible operational roles for the Federal Reserve," the trades wrote. "First, the Federal Reserve could serve as an on-ramp to real-time payments, leveraging its connectivity among financial institutions to provide all financial institutions access to real-time payments.
"Second, the Federal Reserve could serve as an operator for real-time payments," the signers continued. "This is a role that the Federal Reserve currently serves for checks, ACH payments, and wire transfers. Lastly, the Federal Reserve could operate a payments directory which could link to financial institutions, as well as to other private-sector payments directories."
The trades noted their concerns about the repercussions of the Fed not playing an operational role in the development of an improved payments system, emphasizing that the Fed could "link together the nation's financial institutions" to ensure "safety, equitable access, and ubiquity."
The trades also emphasized that the Fed should not develop rules or standards for real-time payments, but leave that to private sector rules and standards organizations.