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The welfare effects of a liquidity-saving mechanism
This paper considers the welfare effect of introducing a liquidity-saving mechanism (LSM) in a real-time gross settlement (RTGS) payment system. We study the planner's problem to get a better understanding of the economic role of an LSM and find that an LSM can achieve the planner's allocation for some parameter values. The planner's allocation cannot happen without an LSM, as long as some payments can be delayed without cost. We show that, in equilibrium with an LSM, there can be either too few or too many payments settled early compared with the planner's allocation, depending on the ...
Journal Article
Federal Reserve: Bringing Payments into the Fast Lane
In July, the Fed launched its first new payment service in more than 40 years. FedNow enables money to move instantaneously from sender to recipient 24 hours a day, seven days a week — weekends and holidays included. While there are already mobile payment apps, such as Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App, that appear to instantly transfer funds between users, many of these services still rely behind the scenes on older payment technologies like the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network that can result in some delays. Additionally, these apps are focused on person-to-person payments. In contrast, ...
Journal Article
Format expanded for Fedwire funds transfers
Journal Article
Recent developments in wholesale payments systems
Wholesale payments and settlement systems in G-10 countries have undergone significant change in recent years. Notably, central banks have sought to increase the safety and reliability of these systems. In this article, William R. Emmons describes two approaches that have been pursued. Significant progress has been achieved in strengthening (or "securing") many existing payments system arrangements based on net settlement. In addition, many new gross settlement systems have been created, and existing ones have been improved. The article also explores why private-sector financial ...
Journal Article
Economizing on liquidity with deferred settlement mechanisms
Credit extensions to banks using the Fedwire Funds Service-the Federal Reserve's real-time gross settlement (RTGS) payments system-can reach intraday peaks as high as $86 billion. This article evaluates the effectiveness of alternative methods of settling Fedwire payments in reducing intraday credit extensions. The authors simulate three deferred settlement mechanisms that complement RTGS systems: one-hour netting, six-hour netting, and a mechanism called a receipt-reactive gross settlement (RRGS) system. Their results suggest that in conjunction with RTGS systems, the RRGS mechanism could ...
Journal Article
Creating an integrated payment system: the evolution of Fedwire
Adapted from remarks given before the Seminar on Payment Systems in the European Union in Frankfurt, Germany, on February 27, 1997.