Van Hollen Applauds FedNow Launch

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government and a member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, released the following statement on the Federal Reserve’s launch of their instant payments system, FedNow. The Senator has long fought for the creation of this system, including urging the Fed to move quickly on its implementation. The Senator also has led legislation, the Payments Modernization Act, to implement real-time payments across America’s banks to ensure consumers have immediate access to their deposited funds.

“All Americans deserve a banking system that works for them. But for far too long our payments processing infrastructure has unnecessarily prevented consumers from accessing their money in real-time, forcing them to encounter delays and costing them billions of dollars in late fees or predatory pay-day loans. The launch of FedNow will help connect Americans with their money – when they need it, immediately, in real-time – and will save consumers billions of dollars annually. Having pushed for this system for many years, I am glad this day has finally arrived. It is good news for American consumers and our economy.”

Senator Van Hollen has repeatedly pressed the Fed to move forward on a implementation of a real-time payments system. In August 2018, Senator Van Hollen sent a letter to the Federal Reserve urging them to move forward on implementation of a real-time payments system. Following the letter, in July 2019, Van Hollen, joined by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Chuy Garcia introduced legislation requiring the Fed to take action. Senator Van Hollen has also raised this issue at hearings with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Vice Chairman Randy Quarles, and Board Member Michelle Bowman. In August 2019 – following these pushes from Senator Van Hollen –  the Fed announced its plan to move forward, and the Senator again stressed the importance of this decision at a hearing that September as well as in a letter. More recently, the Senator has continued to support FedNow’s implementation and has reintroduced an updated version of the Payments Modernization Act.