Dear Mary: My institution has decided to jump into faster payments. How can I get up to speed on the latest developments and start our implementation plan?

We often hear from EPCOR members who suddenly find themselves responsible for creating their institution’s strategy for faster payments, and they question where and how to start. We have planned quite a few things this year to help you begin the new decade prepared for all the challenges presented by changing technologies, faster payments and evolving account holder payment preferences and behaviors. And, it all starts with our first update on faster payments at our Payment Systems Update seminar!

If you attended Payment Systems Update last spring, you may recall we talked about the Federal Reserve considering a real-time payment system that would allow for instant payments to flow 24x7x365. We had great discussions across the EPCOR footprint about the proposal and how such a system might impact payments for our members. EPCOR members were not the only payment system participants debating the proposal last year—the Federal Reserve was busy evaluating comments from many participants in response to the first proposal on a new, real-time payment system. Then, toward the end of last summer, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve decided to commit to creating a real-time gross settlement system and service for financial institutions called FedNow℠.

What is FedNow and what sort of capabilities will it offer community banks and credit unions? There are still many unknowns, but we will spend a significant amount of time at Payment Systems Update talking about what we do know. For example, we know that the Federal Reserve aims to launch FedNow by 2023 or 2024. I know that both of those dates may seem far off into the future, but three to four years will pass in the blink of an eye, and that is why we urge our members to pay attention to current events and to begin their implementation strategies. We also know that FedNow will not be the only option for real-time payments; in fact, real-time payments are available today through participation in The Clearing House’s RTP® Network. The Clearing House’s faster payment solution came online in November 2017, and it has since expanded beyond The Clearing House’s owner banks to include several community and regional financial institutions. We plan to provide further updates at Payment Systems Update on The Clearing House’s efforts to bring more community financial institutions into its faster payment network.

To register for Payment Systems Update, click here. We hope to see you there!