The Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") will upgrade the U.S. payment system to provide
payment-by-payment interbank settlements in real time
(i.e., real-time gross settlements or
"RTGS").
As previously covered, FRB Governor Lael Brainard
stated that although it may be operationally demanding, RTGS would
reduce risk by eliminating the need for deferred interbank
settlements, which are effectively "IOUs" between banks.
She also stated that RTGS would increase the overall efficiency of
the U.S. payment system.
The FRB estimates the arrival of the new real-time payment and
settlement service, FedNow Service, to be in 2023 or 2024. In
anticipation of the service's availability, the FRB is
requesting comments on how payment system stakeholders and the
operations of the U.S. payment system may be best supported with
regard to the design of FedNow Service.