Financial Institutions and Service Providers Welcome Launch of FedNow

Financial institutions and payment service providers hit the ground running when the Federal Reserve launched the FedNow Service on Thursday (July 20).

Many had new offerings ready to go using the nationwide payments infrastructure, which was the first to be implemented in about 40 years.

At the time of Thursday’s launch, 35 banks and credit unions, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, were ready with instant payment capabilities via FedNow, and 16 service providers were ready to support payment processing for banks and credit unions, the Federal Reserve said in a Thursday press release.

Among them is Juniper Payments, a PSCU company and non-bank third-party provider of interbank transaction and reporting systems. Like other early adopters of the FedNow Service, the firm completed a customer testing and certification program in the months leading up to the launch.

“We are eager to see all the capabilities this new service will offer, as well as continue our pursuit to provide clients with access to the most cutting-edge payments solutions that meet the unique needs of today’s digital world,” Juniper Payments CEO Jon Budd said in a Thursday press release.

Another early adopter of the FedNow Service is real-time payments platform Pidgin, which said it is supporting several of its existing financial institution clients in offering instant payments with the new payments infrastructure.

“The FedNow Service is progressing the future of instant payments in the United States, and both merchants and financial institutions can greatly benefit from the new payment ecosystem,” Pidgen Founder and CEO Abhishek Veeraghanta said in a Thursday press release.

FinTech and RegTech solution provider CSI said Thursday that it enrolled financial institution INB, in the FedNow Service and encourages other FIs to do the same.

“Instant payments will play a crucial role in how financial institutions attract and retain customers,” CSI Chief Operating Officer Linda Fischer said in a press release.

Real-time payments software provider ACI Worldwide is also supporting transaction activity for FIs on the FedNow Service, and said the access to instant payments will help FIs remain competitive and serve businesses and consumers.

ACI Worldwide President and CEO Thomas Warsop said in a Thursday press release, “We recognize the material benefit of the launch of the new service for financial institutions.”

Fiserv, a global provider of payments and financial services technology, said Thursday that multiple clients went live on the service at launch and that nearly 100 additional clients have committed to do so in the coming months.

Fiserv President of Digital Payment Solutions Matt Wilcox said in a press release: “Based on the strong interest among our client base, we expect the FedNow Service to change the face of real-time payments with more use cases and more widespread availability.”