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August 2017 Faster Payments Executive Summary: A Clarion Call to Action

By Joe Casali AAP, APRP posted 08-05-2017 13:18

  

TakeAction.jpgThe industry has felt the rumblings for months—the significant shift that occurred with the launch of Same Day ACH, The Clearing House’ real-time payments system, and innovators reimagining ways in which to move payments faster. But those rumblings seem small compared to the seismic shift felt by the industry with the release of the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payments Task Force Final Report, Part Two: A Call to Action. 

The Faster Payments Task Force Final Report, Part Two 

The much-awaited report provides insights from proposals, considers issues requiring collaborative action, and recommends 10 detailed measures for achieving a faster payments system, focused on three key areas — governance and regulation, infrastructure, and sustainability and evolution. 

The report also extends this clarion call to action:

The Faster Payments Task Force calls upon all stakeholders to seize this historic opportunity to realize the vision for a payment system in the United States that is faster, ubiquitous, broadly inclusive, safe, highly secure, and efficient by 2020.

Fed Final Report, Part 2: Next Steps

Such an aggressive timeline requires the industry to act fast and to create collaboration among stakeholders, including competing faster payments solution operators, payment service providers, end users, and other industry players.

To build on the momentum gained through the work of the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payments Task Force, the report outlined specific next steps to start immediately. They include developing a governance framework proposal, staring up informal work groups, and beginning work on a 24x7x365 settlement system, to name a few.

That’s all good in theory, but how does it play out in reality?

As the dust settles on the report, what happens next? That’s a question the industry will be looking to the “Interim Collaboration Work Group” and informal work groups to answer. Stay tuned for what should be near-term announcements on who those individuals are, what the initial plan is, how the Fed will engage, and where all of this is headed.  

Same Day ACH—Phase 2 Implementation 

Meanwhile, NACHA continues with its preparations and educational efforts to help the industry prepare for the Same Day ACH Debit “go-live,” which is just over a month away. New educational resources include Same Day ACH Debits: Guidance for RDFIs and Same Day ACH Debits Qualified Batch Reporting. A recent survey conducted by NACHA found 92 percent of surveyed banks are prepared to support origination of Same Day ACH. 

The Clearing House—Real-Time Payments System

In other news, reports indicate some of the nation’s largest institutions will go live with The Clearing House’s real-time payments system in August, but in the meantime, TCH is an active participant on the Fed’s Faster Payments Task Force. In fact, TCH and FIS submitted a joint proposal for consideration of TCH’s real-time payments system, which is due to launch later this year.

Other Efforts 

Fraud prevention services company Early Warning’s Zelle, a new person-to-person payments network, made its long-awaited debut. Zelle uses a recipient’s email address or mobile number to move money between accounts. Collaboration between Early Warning and Fiserv will add more banks and credit unions to the Zelle network.

Related Resources

To learn more, download our Faster Payments Executive Summary one-page, at-a-glance chart

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