The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) voiced its support for a real-time payment system developed and operated by the Federal Reserve.
ICBA argues that leadership by the Federal Reserve on faster payments would ensure access to all financial institutions and the customers they serve – regardless of their size.
“ICBA continues to encourage the Federal Reserve to use its connectivity among financial institutions to provide universal access and serve an operational role as it does for other payments services,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in a comment letter to the Fed. “By serving an operational role in faster payments, the Fed will provide safety, integrity, continuity and equitable access to all financial institutions, which will lead to greater adoption and support further financial innovation.”
Specifically, ICBA urges the Federal Reserve to operate a real-time gross settlement service, a suite of liquidity-management tools, and a payments directory switch or hub linking financial institutions to other payments directories. This is consistent with the Fed’s statutory role, Rainey said. Further, providing access for all financial institutions and end-users is a public benefit that only the Fed can provide, she added.
Until this happens, community banks will continue to operate in an uneven market environment, ICBA officials stated in the letter. ICBA is urging the Federal Reserve to take quick action on this matter.