Payment processing

Only 111 credit unions currently use The Clearing House's real-time payments platform, out of nearly 5,000 nationwide, but having the world's largest credit union in the system could lead more to join.

Real-time payments and a potential central bank digital currency are different initiatives, but many bank customers get them mixed up. To promote acceptance of FedNow, banks must distinguish between these new technologies as well as dispel the myths and fears linked to CBDCs.

Three months after the instant payment network went live, users and former Fed staffers say the rollout is going as expected. But the key to wider use depends on banks and their customers figuring out what to do with it.

Brazil's PIX network has sparked a venture-capital boom in an otherwise down economy, including interest from U.S. investors.

Because instant settlement is irreversible, companies like Orum expect to see demand for systems that can vet recipients within seconds.

California-based Star One is sharing its experience with smaller banks and credit unions, in an effort to get more to offer the government-backed real-time payment rail.

It's hard to see FedNow as a revolutionary solution because it's not actually much newer, faster or cheaper in many cases than existing payment services.

More than 1,000 users reported problems making payments on Tuesday before complaint volumes tapered around midday, according to DownDetector, a site that collects user outage reports. The internal network disruption comes on the heels of another Zelle outage JPMorgan Chase took responsibility for seven days ago.