A series of town halls focusing on Federal Reserve proposals to bring about real-time interbank settlement of faster payments in the United States gets underway Tuesday in Philadelphia (from 12-3) and follows up in 11 more cities through middle November, according to a schedule posted by the central bank.
The town halls – each in a different Federal Reserve bank district — focus on the Fed’s Oct. 3 proposal for two actions that the Fed hopes will support the further development of faster payments in the United States while, it has said, “increasing the resiliency and security of services offered to the public.”
The two actions are:
- the development of a service for real-time interbank settlement of faster payments 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (24x7x365); and
- the creation of a liquidity management tool that would enable transfers between Federal Reserve accounts on a 24x7x365 basis to support services for real-time interbank settlement of faster payments, regardless of whether those services are provided by the private sector or the Federal Reserve Banks.
According to the Fed, at each of the town halls its representatives will provide an overview of the conceptual approaches presented in the Oct. 3 notice, answer questions about the potential actions outlined, and facilitate dialogue with other stakeholders. Comments on the proposal are due Dec. 14.
The Fed has also noted, in scheduling the town halls (and issuing the notice for comment) that it is not committing to “any specific actions at this time or in the future, but it is committing to transparent communication with the public after reviewing the responses to this notice and determining next steps, which may include issuing a request for comment on specific services or, alternatively, no additional action.”
RSVPs for attendance at any of the town halls are required; space may be limited, the Fed said.
| CITY | DATE | TIME |
| Philadelphia | Oct. 30 |
12-3 |
| Charlotte | Oct. 31 |
10-1 |
| Houston | Oct. 31 |
9-12 |
| New York | Nov. 2 |
9-12 |
| Los Angeles | Nov. 5 |
1-4 |
| Cedar Rapids | Nov. 7 |
1-4 |
| Boston | Nov. 9 |
12-3 |
| Minneapolis | Nov. 9 |
12-3 |
| St. Louis | Nov. 14 |
1-4 |
| Cleveland | Nov. 16 |
12-3 |
| Atlanta | Nov. 19 |
1-4 |
Faster Payments Settlement Assessment (include link to RSVP)