FedNow, the controversial quick payments service offered by the United States Federal Reserve, went live Thursday, with 35 banks and credit unions participating, according to the central bank.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are among the early adopters, with 16 other institutions supporting payment processing that the Fed claims would provide just-in-time access to salaries and bills.
“The Federal Reserve built the FedNow Service to help make everyday payments faster and more convenient in the coming years,” said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in a statement.
Officials, including Powell, have previously stated that the real-time payment network is required to avoid relying on private sector alternatives, such as the now-defunct stablecoin Diem (previously named Libra) by Marc Zuckerberg’s Meta (previously Facebook), while others have viewed it as a step towards a central bank digital currency.