The Fed launched FedNow last July. to provide real-time payments services in the U.S., enabling transactions to be settled in seconds instead of days. The speedier system, which will also be available for use around the clock and on weekends, is the biggest change to the nation’s payments system in decades. The rival private-sector RTP, which is operated by The Clearing House and owned by major U.S. banks, was started in 2017.
Despite significant marketing efforts by the Fed for FedNow, the central bank has rarely made officials available for interviews on the topic of FedNow. Baum’s comments came in a lengthy interview at the Payments Dive “Future of FedNow” event Wednesday, during which he also touched on issues such as disputed transactions, fraud and cross-border payments. Baum is the head of payments product for FedNow.
