The Federal Reserve is considering the creation of the first new payment system in more than 40 years and it is important for your bank to be heard. The Federal Reserve issued a Request for Comment on whether it should consider creating a new, faster settlement infrastructure to support real time payments in the United States. The Fed seeks comment on the benefits of it creating a new Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) that would operate 24/7/365 enabling payments to clear and settle on a real time basis at any time. Another part of the proposal would create a Liquidity Management Tool (LMT) that would help banks manage fund balances in their faster payments accounts to ensure that excess funds don’t build up and that balances are adequate to ensure that all authorized transactions are processed. 

The effort to create a new, faster payment framework can be traced back to the Fed’s 2013 Payment System Improvement-Public Consultation Paper and more recently to the recommendations made by the Faster Payments Task Force Final Report in 2017.

For your consideration, you may also wish to review the Real Time Payments Overview document prepared by Jim Reuter, CEO, FirstBank of Colorado, an industry expert on the issue, who was a member of the Steering Committee of the Fed’s Payments Task Force.

 Comments are due on December 14, 2018.

Submission Methods (include Docket No. OP-1625 as an identifier with the submission):

• Agency Website: http://www.federalreserve.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments athttp://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/foia/ProposedRegs.cfm.
• Email: [regs.comments@federalreserve.gov]regs.comments@federalreserve.gov. Include docket number (above) in the subject line of the message.
• FAX: (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102.
• Mail: Ann Misback, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20551