FedNow Service
The FedNow Service is a new payment infrastructure designed by the U.S. Federal Reserve to facilitate the instant transfer of funds. The service allows users to send and receive money in real time, typically within seconds of a transaction being initiated. Payments and transfers can be completed any time of day, and any day of the year — including weekends and holidays.
Frequently asked questions
Who can use FedNow?
Currently, FedNow is only available to banks and credit institutions. Participation is not required; institutions are allowed to opt in or out of it. Instant payments facilitated by FedNow are only available to consumers if their financial institution opts into the system. A list of current FedNow participants can be found here.
What are the benefits of instant payments?
Instant payments mean that consumers have more flexibility over how and when they make payments or send money. This makes it easier for an individual to move money between accounts if they maintain accounts with different financial institutions, or if they need to access funds immediately due to an emergency expense. It also means that a bill payment made over the weekend or holiday won’t trigger a late fee just because of processing time.
For financial institutions, the ability to offer instant payments may be a selling point or differentiator, allowing them to attract new customers and retain existing ones.
What are the risks of instant payments?
Instant payments are prone to the same risks that non-instant payments are prone to. This includes the possibility that a customer may send money to the wrong recipient, or that they may be the victim of fraud that results in the transfer of funds to a fraudster.
With non-instant payments, there is a margin of time in which a transaction may be canceled or reversed before it has fully processed. But with instant payments, this buffer is eliminated, making it harder for an individual to retrieve stolen or mistakenly sent funds.
These risks make it more important than ever for financial institutions to implement a comprehensive fraud strategy consisting of identity verification, Customer Due Diligence (CDD), transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting.