The long-awaited Fed digital payment system will launch in July

The Federal Reserve’s digital payments system, which it promises will help speed the flow of money, will debut in July.

FedNow, as it will be known, will create “a leading-edge payment system that is flexible, adaptive and accessible,” said Richmond Fed President Tom Barkinwho are the executive sponsors of the program.

According to the program’s goals, the system will allow bill payments, money transfers such as paychecks and disbursements from the government, as well as other consumer activities to move more quickly and at a lower cost.

According to the Fed announcement, participants will complete the training and certification process in early April.

“As launch approaches, we urge financial institutions and their industry partners to move full speed ahead with preparations to join the FedNow service,” said Ken Montgomery, program executive and first vice president at the Boston Fed. under Former Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren,

Institutions participating in the program will have seven-day, 24-hour access, unlike the system currently closed on weekends.

Advocates of the program say it will get money to people more quickly. For example, he said, government payments such as those issued in the early days of the Covid pandemic would have been deposited into accounts immediately instead of the days it took to reach most people.

Some Fed officials say the program may even suppress the need. a central bank digital currency,