The U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC), a membership committed to elevating efficient payments in the United States, has unveiled a new Faster Payments Interoperability white paper developed by the FPC Network Committee.
The white paper seeks to enhance the achievement of seamless processing – both sending and receiving – of payment instructions across a variety of payment solutions.
FPC Network Committee Chair Steve Ledford commented: “Our Network Committee includes experts from U.S. network operators who are well-positioned to deliver objective information to all industry stakeholders about faster payments interoperability.
“We’re pleased to present this paper as a first, important step as we build a common understanding of payments interoperability. I’d also like to thank each committee member for all the hard work and thought they have contributed to this collaborative effort.”
Available in the FPC’s Faster Payments Knowledge Center, the white paper analyses a host of models that can connect systems together to boost payments interoperability.
FPC Executive Director Reed Luhtanen added: “This white paper sets a solid foundation for talking about real-world interoperability approaches within the FPC. While we recognise the road to interoperability might not be easy, with the support of our members and the industry at large, we are up to the challenge.
“Across the ecosystem, FPC members are collectively dedicated to a future of faster payments and this paper is just one example of how our members are developing tools, guidance, and other resources to help the industry collaborate and engage in additional dialogue.”
In addition to illustrating three models for payments interoperability, the paper provides an explanation of the different forms of settlement: Deferred gross settlement, deferred bilateral net settlement, deferred multilateral net settlement, and real-time gross settlement (RTGS). The form of settlement is an important factor when considering options for interoperability between faster payment systems and can have a bearing on both banks participating in a service and their end-user customers.
