The Federal Reserve has started onboarding pilot participants for its new real-time payment system, FedNow, ahead of a full launch next year.
The Fed says that a few organisations have already successfully connected and delivered test messages over a pilot version of the service.
Over the next few months, more will onboard, establishing connectivity and performing technical and operational tasks that will lay the groundwork for full-scale, end-to-end testing later this year.
Among them will be Square and Q2, both of which have recently joined the pilot programme, which now numbers more than 120 participants.
Nick Stanescu, SVP, business executive of the FedNow Service, says: “Though much work remains, this progress sets the stage for thousands of financial institutions to be up and running with instant payments in the near future, including those that work with third-party payment providers.”