13 More Credit Unions Join the FedNow Network

Thirteen more credit unions are live on FedNow – the Federal Reserve’s instant payment service – joining the 13 credit unions and corporates that were announced as early adopters of the service ahead of its July 2023 launch.

In total, 108 financial institutions are now sending and receiving payments on the network, and in addition, 21 financial institutions (including seven corporate credit unions, all of which were early adopters) are providing liquidity and settlement services, and 20 service providers are supporting payment processing in the instant payments infrastructure, according to the Federal Reserve’s Tuesday announcement.

The FedNow Service was developed to facilitate nationwide reach of instant payment services by financial institutions – regardless of size or geographic location – around the clock, every day of the year. Through financial institution participants, businesses and individuals can send and receive instant payments at any time of day, and recipients have full access to funds immediately. Access is provided through the Federal Reserve’s FedLine network, which serves more than 10,000 financial institutions directly or through their agents.

“The momentum and interest we’re seeing in the FedNow Service in the weeks after launch reflects the noteworthy support from early adopters and underscores the changing U.S. payments landscape,” Ken Montgomery, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and FedNow program executive, stated. “We anticipate widespread adoption and ubiquity will build over time, bringing the benefits of instant payments to communities nationwide and improving the way households, businesses and governments send and receive payments.”

The 13 credit unions that recently joined the FedNow Service are:

• Addition Financial Credit Union ($2.8 billion, Lake Mary, Fla.)
• California Coast Credit Union ($3.3 billion, San Diego)
• CSE Federal Credit Union ($441 million, Lake Charles, La.)
• MSU Federal Credit Union ($7.7 billion, East Lansing, Mich.)
• Mountain America Federal Credit Union ($17.3 billion, Sandy, Utah)
• Neighborhood Credit Union ($1 billion, Dallas, Texas)
• Royal Credit Union ($4.8 billion, Eau Claire, Wis.)
• Service Credit Union ($5.4 billion, Portsmouth, N.H.)
• SUMA Federal Credit Union ($420 million, Yonkers, N.Y.)
• United Nations Federal Credit Union ($8.4 billion, Long Island City, N.Y.)
• University of Michigan Credit Union ($1.4 billion, Ann Arbor, Mich.)
• USALLIANCE Financial Federal Credit Union ($2.9 billon, Rye, N.Y.)
• Vantage West Credit Union ($2.7 billion, Tucson, Ariz.)

The Federal Reserve’s announcement also discussed value-add features of the service that were introduced at launch, as well as enhancements planned for the near future. The initial features included a digital onboarding solution to help organizations and internal teams automate form signing and track progress through the entire onboarding process, as well as fraud mitigation capabilities, including the ability to set negative lists and identify and investigate instances of fraud or errors. The forthcoming enhancements will include:

• Select risk management and operational enhancements of the service geared toward providing additional fraud prevention tools and straightforward access to important account and transaction information.
• A tech-centric developer resource, set to roll out in the coming months, allowing financial institution participants to access documentation such as recently updated operating procedures, technical specifications, as well as code and message samples to assist with service implementation.