Christopher Desch and Henry Holden

For most of modern history, stocks and bonds were pieces of paper. Sixty years ago, buying a financial security or taking it as collateral meant receiving a certificate about five days later. This worked well enough for decades, but by 1968 there was so much paper that settlement became unmanageable, and the ensuing crisis forced Wall Street to start using computers to keep track of paper securities. This transition took about four years and did not go smoothly. In the time it took for Wall Street to modernize, NASA’s Apollo program managed four moon landings.

Michael Lee and Antoine Martin

On March 15, the Federal Reserve announced that the FedNow Service will launch in July 2023. FedNow will “facilitate nationwide reach of instant payment services by financial institutions—regardless of size or geographic location—around the clock, every day of the year.” But what exactly is the FedNow Service, and what does it do? In this article, we describe FedNow at a high level, offer answers to common and anticipated questions about the service, and explain how it will support the provision of instant payment services in the United States.

Per von Zelowitz

The New York Fed established the New York Innovation Center (NYIC) in 2021 with the support of its strategic partner, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), to explore the potential of technological innovation in central banking to benefit the global financial system.

Brian Manning, Corporate Communications Senior Associate, Communications and Outreach

At a risk-management conference this morning, New York Fed Executive Vice President and General Counsel Michael Held discussed financial crime and the payment system. The official sector and the financial industry have a shared goal in preventing the former and protecting the latter.