Faster Payments Task Force Unveils Proposals and Sets 2020 Target 

The Faster Payments Task Force, which was created in 2015 and led by the Federal Reserve, has published its final report summarizing its accomplishments.

The report details 10 possible approaches to achieving a faster and more efficient payment system, a press release said. Additionally, the report sets a goal for making receipt of faster payments available to every U.S. consumer and business by 2020.

An online broadcast featuring task force members discussing the report and the various proposals and recommendations that came out of it is available for online viewing at the Faster Payments Task Force website. 

The task force includes more than 300 representatives of financial institutions, consumer groups, payment service providers, financial technology firms, merchants, government agencies and other interested parties. 

The report is a major step forward in improving the speed and safety of payments in the U.S., according to Roy DeCicco, a senior executive at JPMorgan Chase and a task force committee member. 

"This report shows how we can get to a better payment system by encouraging competition and innovation, while collaborating to create broad access to faster payments and serve all interests," he said. 

Proposals suggest what end-to-end faster payment systems in the United States might look like and how effective they could be.

The report also discusses solutions, technologies implementing faster payments, as well as potential barriers to implementation.

Strategic issues in the successful development of faster payments by 2020 include the need for:

• a framework for ongoing collaboration, decision making and rule-setting;
• infrastructure to support faster payments; and
• plans to address evolving security threats, meet changing end-user needs and foster continuous innovation.

"The work of the Faster Payments Task Force over the past two years will have an enormous impact on how a modern U.S. payments system is designed and implemented," said Sean Rodriguez, the Federal Reserve faster payments strategy leader and chair of the Faster Payments Task Force. "Our goal is to ensure that anyone anywhere is able to pay and be paid quickly and securely. In real terms, that means people will not have to wait hours or days to deliver and access their money. Businesses will have enhanced cash management and better information associated with their payments."