Federal Reserve scrambles to get instant payments offering ready. Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard said in a Thursday webinar the U.S. central bank will be debuting its instant payment service “as soon as practically possible.”
COVID-19 showcased the dire need of Americans for a “resilient instant payment system,” Brainard said. FedNow aims to be the solution, even though that does not happen until 2023 or 2024.
FedNow, which the Federal Reserve is developing in response to private-sector, real-time, gross settlement initiatives, may play a key part in that future.
“By creating that neutral platform, banks in partnership with these other companies will be able to offer much more innovation services, services that we may not even be imagining,” Brainard said.
In the meantime, the Federal Reserve “remains optimistic” that emerging payment technologies could benefit consumers at the retail payments level “when the appropriate safeguards are in place,” she said.
She also cited the impact of the Facebook-linked libra stablecoin, repeating her past assertion the global stablecoin project raises “fundamental questions” about private money regulation, legality and its potential economic implications.
[image: Random Sky]
