WASHINGTON—NAFCU said it supports the Federal Reserve's decision to move forward with its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) service and is urging the Fed to accelerate its launch and explore improvements to existing settlement capabilities.
As CUToday.info reported here, earlier this year the Fed announced the central bank's plans to develop its RTGS under the name “FedNow Service.”
"Given strong credit union support for the board’s decision to develop the FedNow Service, NAFCU encourages the board and the Reserve Banks to expedite delivery and seek to launch at the earliest possible date," wrote Andrew Morris, NAFCU's senior counsel for research and policy, in response to the proposal. "At the same time, NAFCU supports the Federal Reserve’s desire to make the FedNow Service interoperable with private sector networks to maximize the reach and accessibility of real-time payments.”
Points Covered
In the letter, Morris provided comments on a number of aspects of the service, including:
- Pricing
- Account reconciliation
- Request for payment functionality
- Liquidity and credit
- Directory service
- Fraud prevention services
- Interoperability
- Enhancements to the Fedwire Funds Service and National Settlement Service (NSS)
- Outreach and education
Morris also noted the importance of credit unions' access to affordable faster payments capabilities, which could "help attract new members and improve overall satisfaction with services such as online bill pay, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, and business-to-business payments."