FedNow℠ Service
The FedNow Service will be available to depository institutions in the United States and will enable individuals and businesses to send instant payments through their depository institution accounts. The service is intended to be a flexible, neutral platform that supports a broad variety of instant payments. At the most fundamental level, the service will provide interbank clearing and settlement that enables funds to be transferred from the account of a sender to the account of a receiver in near real-time and at any time, any day of the year. Depository institutions and their service providers will be able to build on this fundamental capability to offer value-added services to their customers.
The FedNow Service will be designed to maintain uninterrupted 24x7x365 processing with security features to support payment integrity and data security. The service will have a 24-hour business day each day of the week, including weekends and holidays. End-of-day balances will be reported on Federal Reserve accounting records for each participating depository institution on each FedNow Service business day. Access to intraday credit will be provided to participants in the FedNow Service during its business day under the same terms and conditions as for other Federal Reserve services.
The FedNow Service will provide a liquidity management tool to support instant payment services. The tool will enable participants in the FedNow Service to transfer funds to one another to support liquidity needs related to payment activity in the FedNow Service. The tool will also support participants in a private-sector instant payment service backed by a joint account at a Reserve Bank by enabling transfers between the master accounts of participants and a joint account.
The first release of the FedNow Service will also include optional features: fraud prevention tools, the ability to join initially as a receive-only participant, request for payment capability, and tools to support participants in their handling of payment inquiries. The FedNow Service will be released in phases and additional features and service enhancements will be introduced over time. Other aspects of the service, such as fee structures and governing terms, will be announced prior to the launch of the service.
The target release date for the service is May to July 2023. As development of the FedNow Service progresses, additional details will be available through established Reserve Bank channels, including more specific timing, and implementation information for depository institutions.
More information on the service can be found here.