On March 15, the Federal Reserve Board announced a July launch date for its FedNow Service. (Covered by a Special Alert here.) Beginning the first week of April, the Fed will start formally certifying participants, with early adopters completing a customer testing and certification program in preparation for sending live transactions through the system. The certification process “encompasses a comprehensive testing curriculum with defined expectations for operational readiness and network experience,” the Fed explained. “We couldn’t be more excited about the forthcoming FedNow launch, which will enable every participating financial institution, the smallest to the largest and from all corners of the country, to offer a modern instant payment solution,” said Ken Montgomery, First Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and FedNow program executive. “With the launch drawing near, we urge financial institutions and their industry partners to move full steam ahead with preparations to join the FedNow Service,” Montgomery added.

In addition to certifying early adopters for the July launch, the Fed said it will continue to engage with financial institutions and service providers to complete the testing and certification program throughout 2023 and beyond. FedNow “will launch with a robust set of core clearing and settlement functionality and value-added features,” the agency said, explaining that “[m]ore features and enhancements will be added in future releases to continue supporting safety, resiliency and innovation in the industry as the FedNow network expands in the coming years.”