More time made available for comments on extending Fed’s largest payments systems operating hours

A proposal to expand the operating days of the Federal Reserve Banks’ Fedwire Funds Service and the National Settlement Service (NSS), to include weekends and holidays, will now be open to comments until Sept. 6, a two-month extension, the Federal Reserve said Friday.

The comment period on the proposal affecting the two large-value payments services, the Fed said, was extended to allow the public more time to analyze the proposal and prepare their comments.

According to the Fed, right now both the Fedwire Funds Service and the NSS operate Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Under the proposal, both services would operate every day of the year, the Fed said. The operating hours each day would remain the same, with the Fedwire Funds Service open 22 hours per day, and NSS open 21.5 hours per day.

The proposal does not include changes to the Fedwire Securities Service or the Federal Reserve’s new retail service for instant payments, the FedNow Service, the agency said.

Federal Reserve Board announces it will extend until September 6, 2024, the comment period on proposal to expand operating days of the Federal Reserve Banks’ two large-value payments services, Fedwire Funds Service and the National Settlement Service