Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS) has announced the establishment of the FedNow User Group. This new forum is intended to encourage collaboration among the 607 financial institutions and service providers currently participating in the FedNow Service network.
As per an FRFS press release, FedNow enables participating financial institutions to offer businesses and individuals the capability to send and receive instant payments at any time on any day. The service was launched in July 2023 with 35 participating institutions and rapidly gained momentum.
Mark Gould, chief payments executive for Federal Reserve Financial Services, stated in the press release, "The strong adoption and engagement surrounding the FedNow Service reflects our collaboration with the industry since day one, and this remains a priority as we pursue our shared mission of ubiquitous availability of instant payments." He further added, "This new user group will provide institutions on the network and service providers who support them the opportunity to advise on new developments that further enhance the value of the FedNow Service for all participants."
According to another FRFS press release, use cases developed by network participants have broadened since its inception. Today, these include account-to-account payments, digital wallet funding, instant insurance disbursements, and business-to-business payments. FRFS anticipates that the FedNow Service will continue to evolve, particularly as the new user group encourages additional engagement and innovations.
As per a previous press release from FRFS, as of December 2023, participants in the FedNow Service network spanned 45 states and ranged in size from under $500 million to over $3 trillion in assets.