The Federal Reserve is considering providing real-time payment services, but this would not be the first time the Fed has competed with private entities directly. The Fed has entered the private market before by providing automated clearing house services — an electronic network for financial transactions — in the 1970s. AAF’s Director of Financial Services Policy Thomas Wade examines the Fed’s behavior in this role and concludes that it leveraged its taxpayer backing to harm private competitors — behavior that must be considered as the Fed debates entering the private market yet again.