{"id":440788,"date":"2024-03-07T13:47:56","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T18:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paymentsjournal.com\/?p=440788"},"modified":"2024-03-07T15:15:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T20:15:30","slug":"fednows-slow-rollout-is-not-a-matter-of-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paymentsjournal.com\/fednows-slow-rollout-is-not-a-matter-of-concern\/","title":{"rendered":"FedNow\u2019s Slow Rollout Is Not a Matter of Concern"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Fewer than 500 banks out of the roughly 4,000 U.S. banks are making use of the Federal Reserve\u2019s instant payment system, FedNow. Fed Chair Jerome Powell mentioned that figure in his comments to Congress this week, noting that the slow adoption rate was not a surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe expect it’ll take some time, but it’s there, and we think it’ll be beneficial,\u201d Powell said<\/a>. \u201cWe had a lot of support from smaller banks to build it.\u201d Powell compared the use of the new system to the adoption of the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system, which also had an initial slow uptake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FedNow launched in July 2023<\/a>, with 35 banks and credit unions, representing a diverse mix of large and small institutions across the country, as its initial users. Other early adopters include the U.S. Department of the Treasury\u2019s Bureau of the Fiscal Service and 16 service providers prepared to support payment processing for banks and credit unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite Powell\u2019s remarks, it\u2019s worth noting that FedNow is still less than a year old. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s positive to see the FedNow network with over 500 financial institutions and growing,\u201d said Elisa Tavilla<\/a>, Director of Debit Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research. \u201cAs more participants join, they will want more practical instant payment use cases to drive transaction volume and value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tavilla thinks that more use cases will accelerate adoption of FedNow. \u201cI often use a telephone analogy, even though it\u2019s not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was valuable when more people got phone lines and were able to receive and make calls. But then people needed more reasons to call others. Imagine if a phone operator could only let customers check voicemail or call a select group of people for a few limited purposes. Customers would not find much value in such a network. Similarly, customers need more compelling reasons to make instant payments besides moving money between their own accounts.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nAnticipated Participation in FedNow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n