Why I’m concerned now that FedNow is live
A while back, I wrote an article discussing a payment gateway designed by the Federal Reserve called FedNow. This is a way to make instant transfers between accounts, sort of like PayPal or Venmo, but without the users having to move the money from various wallets.
While it sounds convenient, the concern is that this puts the infrastructure to quickly roll out CBDCs into place. Previously, I wrote about this.
On March 15th, in the midst of the banking collapses, the Federal Reserve issued a press release detailing a new instant payment system that will be launched in July. That system is called FedNow. Here’s what they said about it.
The first week of April, the Federal Reserve will begin the formal certification of participants for launch of the service. Early adopters will complete a customer testing and certification program, informed by feedback from the FedNow Pilot Program, to prepare for sending live transactions through the system.
Certification encompasses a comprehensive testing curriculum with defined expectations for operational readiness and network experience. In June, the Federal Reserve and certified participants will conduct production validation activities to confirm readiness for the July launch.
“We couldn’t be more excited about the forthcoming FedNow launch, which will enable every participating financial institution, the smallest to the largest and from all corners of the country, to offer a modern instant payment solution,” said Ken Montgomery, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and FedNow program executive. “With the launch drawing near, we urge financial institutions and their industry partners to move full steam ahead with preparations to join the FedNow Service.”
Many early adopters have declared their intent to begin using the service in July, including a diverse mix of financial institutions of all sizes, the largest processors, and the U.S. Treasury.
This has all the hallmarks of a government strategy. First, they offer it as a “convenience” or a “safety measure.” Lots of people will jump on board in order to take advantage of this.
Of course, we’ve heard this song before.
Next, it will be pushed harder, and those who don’t adopt it will be mocked, thought of as backward, and treated with suspicion. After that, it’ll be darn near impossible to do anything without it. Sound familiar?
The Federal Reserve Banks are developing the FedNow Service 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 institutions participating in the FedNow Service, businesses and individuals will be able to send and receive instant payments at any time of day, and recipients will have full access to funds immediately, giving them greater flexibility to manage their money and make time-sensitive payments. Access will be provided through the Federal Reserve’s FedLine® network, which serves more than 10,000 financial institutions directly or through their agents.
But what truly makes me worried is that since FedNow is live, this is a soft way to move us all over into using a federal money transferring system that could easily, easily be the platform for the implementation of CBDCs, the digital dollar that could end freedom as we know it.
Changing a nation’s entire currency is not an overnight project. If we were to go completely digital with our money, it would take a while. Several things would need to happen first:
A national financial infrastructure would need to be created that links accounts from all the banks to an information highway.
They’d need to get people comfortable with using this system and to do that, it would need to be fast and convenient. Who wouldn’t want their money right away? It feels like a win to sell a car and have 20K in your account instantly without waiting for the check to clear.
This provides some time to work out any bugs. The folks adopting FedNow would be the guinea pigs. It’s new, but everyone expects new stuff to be glitchy. If you’re getting in on the ground floor, you’re probably willing to be patient with that.
Next, they’ll want to get as many people voluntarily using it as possible. Expect generous offers, outrageous convenience, and free or cheap transactions.
Once it’s all in place and running smoothly, the final transition from cash money to digital money would just be a matter of the central bank devaluing our cash but allowing people to trade it for digital at full (or at least greater) value.
If you’ve never listened to me before, please listen to me now. This IS the road we’re on. And once CBDCs are in place, especially if they are the only option, your every transaction will be monitored, data will be mined from your spending, and your choices can be controlled.
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