A group of industry stakeholders has put together a draft governance framework for a new US Faster Payments Council (FPC). The 27-member Governance Framework Formation Team (GFFT) has spent eight months working on the draft for the new council's framework and has now released it into the wild, inviting others to provide feedback over the next 60 days.
The development is the latest landmark in a process that has seen the Federal Reserve spend several years inching America along a journey towards a faster payments system fit for the 21st century.
In 2015, the Fed put together a Faster Payments task force of more than 300 industry stakeholders, charging it with coming up with recommendations on the best way to achieve this. That task force reported back last July, offering the establishment of the framework as its leading directive.
With a host of new payments systems either recently arrived or in the pipeline, the council will work to drive interoperability, as well push for ubiquity and a high-quality user experience. In addition, the framework highlights openness and inclusiveness, flexibility and fairness and transparency.
Adam Rust, director, research, Reinvestment Partners, says: "I am particularly excited about the many ways faster payments can improve consumers’ lives - whether getting access to wages immediately after a day’s work, avoiding late fees on bills due, ensuring loved ones get emergency funds in real-time and more. Ubiquitous faster payments can improve peoples’ lives in ways that save time and money and offer greater convenience."
Stakeholders can now offer their thoughts via an online survey to help determine whether there is broad agreement on the planned council and whether any refinements are needed.
Tom Rea, EVP, US Bank, says: "In the FPC’s membership, Board structure and decision-making processes, it is important to the GFFT that the FPC be inclusive and represent the diversity of payments industry stakeholders while balancing infrastructure investments and risk exposure. Input on this point from all stakeholders is essential to help the GFFT achieve these goals."
