Fed’s instant payment service ‘FedNow’ set to launch by July 2023
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fednow-payment-system-launch-2023-194814075.html
The Federal Reserve is on track to deliver an instant payment service called FedNow between May and July 2023, the central bank's clearest timeline yet for a new system enabling settlement of U.S. payments in seconds.
The FedNow service also potentially negates the need for the creation of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC.
“The FedNow Service will transform the way everyday payments are made throughout the economy, bringing substantial gains to households and businesses through the ability to send instant payments at any time on any day, and the funds being immediately available to recipients to make other payments or manage cash flow efficiently,” Fed Vice Chair, Lael Brainard, said in a speech Monday.
The Fed has been testing the system with a limited number of banks and institutions, but Brainard called on financial institutions, service providers, and software companies to adopt the FedNow Service now to ensure the system will work smoothly come next spring.
"The time is now for all key stakeholders…to devote the resources necessary to support instant payments," said Brainard.
FedNow, which will enable consumers and businesses to send payments instantly, could offer some of the same benefits as a central bank digital currency.
Fed Governor Michelle Bowman has said that FedNow may deliver many of the same benefits as a Federal Reserve-issued digital dollar, while senior administration officials have also pointed to the FedNow service as an alternative to a CBDC. The Fed has released a study on a CBDC, but has made no decision on whether the U.S. should adopt one.
Officials are thinking through what needs a CBDC would fulfill after the release of the FedNow system.
Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg said he thinks FedNow eliminates the business case for a stablecoin-based consumer payment system.
“FedNow provides the cost-reduction and settlement speed of stable coin payments without the need to convert into and out of tokens,” said Seiburg. “FedNow could then slow the growth of these tokens, which may help address policy concerns regarding stablecoins.”
Rolling out the FedNow system would involve upgrading back-office processes, evaluating accounting procedures to accommodate a seven-business-day week, arranging liquidity providers, and putting in place new technology to interface with customers.
The Fed maintains making funds immediately available will help Americans living paycheck to paycheck, or small businesses with cash flow constraints, by avoiding late payment fees or freeing up working capital for small businesses to finance growth.
Analysts say FedNow could also cut demand for payday loans as consumers won't have to wait for a check to clear. For businesses, there could also be upside for better paying suppliers on time, and businesses could embrace it as a less costly and more certain way to accept consumer payments.
The FedNow system would help the government transmit emergency relief payments to Americans faster, avoiding making citizens wait for checks as during the pandemic.
Financial regulators also want faster payments because it reduces systemic risk. During the financial crisis, the fear was that the financial system would shut down because banks would not trust that other banks would make good on intraday credit.
Zaid Hamid
@ZaidZamanHamid
==Civil war has broken out in Iraq….
Bagdad green Zone has been breached and the US Embassy is being evacuated just as it was in Kabul or Saigon==……
The Personal Militia of the Nationalist Shia Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are clashing with Govt & allied Iranian forces….
https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1564390719720128517
https://twitter.com/Q8J72/status/1564412047252652035
Jarah Aldhafeeri
@Q8J72
C-RAM - # # #_ # # #Iraq #GreenZone #Baghdad
Translated from Arabic by
Numerous explosions near the US embassy in Baghdad and the activation of the advanced C-RAM defense system - # # #_ # # #Iraq #GreenZone #Baghdad
Benny Johnson
@bennyjohnson
BREAKING: U.S. Embassy employees being evacuated from the roof in Baghdad
This is the new normal under Biden
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1564265453689634817
https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/status/1564389655247814656
EndGameWW3 🇺🇸
@EndGameWW3
Update: The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) urged "all" sides to "refrain from acts that could lead to an unstoppable chain of events."
"The very survival of the state is at stake," it warned.
MilFags can better estimate the volume of weapon systems, intel, and other American assets being abandoned in the Baghdad Green Zone better than this anon, BUT surely it is MORE that was left in Afghanistan…. which was enough to service an Army, correct?
Iraq's Government palace stormed by supporters of powerful Shia leader, 10 killed in violent clashes
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2022/08/simon-bridges-jokes-he-feels-cheated-by-his-masked-singer-nz-costume.html
Heavy clashes erupted in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people on Monday (local time), after powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said he would quit politics, prompting his loyalists to storm a government palace and fight with rival groups.
As night fell, machine-gun fire and explosions rang out, with tracer fire rising into the sky above the Green Zone that houses government headquarters and foreign embassies, in the worst fighting the Iraqi capital has seen in years.
It followed a day of violence prompted by Sadr's announcement that he would withdraw from all political activity - a decision he said was in response to the failure of other Shi'ite leaders and parties to reform a corrupt and decaying governing system.
Sadr later said he was staging a hunger strike in protest against the use of weapons by all sides.
A political standoff between Sadr and Shi'ite Muslim rivals who are mostly backed by Iran has sent Iraq spiralling into yet another round of violence as it struggles to recover from decades of war, sanctions, civil strife and endemic corruption.
Since 2003, Iraqi groups have engaged in sectarian conflict and, more recently, intra-sectarian, intra-ethnic political competition.
The latest round of violence pits Sadr's supporters, which include a heavily armed militia, against Iran-aligned rival paramilitaries and the security forces.
Sadr's win in an October election, his attempts to form a government free of Iran-backed groups, and his eventual withdrawal from parliament in favour of street protests and occupying government buildings to block political activity have all featured in the build-up of tensions that finally erupted into new violence on Monday.
Security officials said some of the clashes were between Sadr's Peace Brigades fighters and members of the Iraqi security forces tasked with protecting the Green Zone, but that Iran-aligned militias were also likely to have been involved.
Reuters could not independently verify who was shooting at who on Monday night.
Sadr announced earlier in the day he was quitting politics. "I hereby announce my final withdrawal," he said on Twitter, criticising fellow Shi'ite political leaders for failing to heed his calls for reform.
Sadr loyalists who had been occupying the parliament building for weeks then charged a government headquarters in the Green Zone, once a palace of dictator Saddam Hussein, where some jumped into a swimming pool at the palace, cheering and waving flags.
Clashes then took place between young men loyal to Sadr and supporters of the pro-Iran militias, who threw stones at each other near the Green Zone, before the nighttime armed fighting.
In addition to the 10 people killed, several dozen were injured, police and medical workers said.
Iraq's military declared an open-ended nationwide curfew and urged the protesters to leave the Green Zone.
Sadr, who has drawn broad support by opposing both US and Iranian influence on Iraqi politics, was the biggest winner from an October election but withdrew all his lawmakers from parliament in June after he failed to form a government that excluded his rivals, mostly Tehran-backed Shi'ite parties.
Sadr has insisted on early elections and the dissolution of parliament. He says no politician who has been in power since the US invasion in 2003 should hold office.
IMPASSE
Many Iraqis worry that moves by each Shi'ite camp could lead to new civil conflict.
"The (Iran) loyalists came and burned the tents of Sadrists, and attacked protesters," said Kadhim Haitham, a supporter of Sadr.
Pro-Iran groups blamed the Sadrists for the clashes and denied having shot at anyone. "It's not true - if our people had guns why would they need to throw rocks?" said one militia member, who declined to be identified by name.
p1
Sadr has withdrawn from politics and the government in the past and has also disbanded militias loyal to him. But he retains widespread influence over state institutions and controls a paramilitary group with thousands of members.
He has often returned to political activity after similar announcements, although the current deadlock appears harder to resolve than previous periods of dysfunction and has given Iraq its longest run without a government.
Supporters of the mercurial cleric first stormed the Green Zone in July. Since then, they have occupied parliament, halting the process to choose a new president and prime minister.
Sadr's ally Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who remains caretaker prime minister, suspended cabinet meetings until further notice after protesters stormed government buildings and has publicly pleaded with Sadr to intervene to stop the violence.
Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, has struggled to recover since the defeat of Islamic State in 2017 because political parties have squabbled over power and its vast oil wealth.
2 of 2
anon needs more convincing. u may be right, but…
The informant
@theinformantofc
🇮🇶 Video shared by netizens on #Iraqi social medias show how civilians in the central zone of #Baghdad take cover as #Sadrist Militias, Pro-Iran PMF and Government Forces clash with each other near the #GreenZone
https://twitter.com/theinformantofc/status/1564415715054161922
Toyota DShK
@ToyotaDshK
🇺🇲ABD Ordusu C-RAM hava savunma sistemleri Bağdat'taki ABD Büyükelçiliği üzerinden etkinleştirildi.
http://t.me/toyotadshk
#ırak #sadr #ıraq #baghdad #bagdat #Iran #iran #GreenZone #yesilbolge
Translated from Turkish by
🇺🇲 US Army C-RAM air defense systems activated via the US Embassy in Baghdad.
http://t.me/toyotadshk
#ırak #sadr #ıraq #baghdad #bagdat #Iran #iran #GreenZone #yesilbolge
https://twitter.com/ToyotaDshK/status/1564415125880291329
Toyota DShK
@ToyotaDshK
Irak Merkez Bankasını koruyan Türk güvenlik şirketinin binası Sadr yanlıları tarafından roketle (2 kez) vuruldu.
http://t.me/toyotadshk
#ırak #sadr #ıraq #baghdad #bagdat #Iran #iran #GreenZone #yesilbolge
Translated from Turkish by
The building of the Turkish security company protecting the Central Bank of Iraq was hit with a rocket (2 times) by the supporters of Sadr.
http://t.me/toyotadshk
#ırak #sadr #ıraq #baghdad #bagdat #Iran #iran #GreenZone #yesilbolge
https://twitter.com/ToyotaDshK/status/1564394967786717184
https://twitter.com/JURISTnews/status/1564406142570225665
JURIST
@JURISTnews
One of our legal correspondents in Baghdad, #Iraq, tells
@JURISTnews
that events in the country have turned "hectic": "The supreme court was surrounded [by protesters] and almost broken into last week. And today all hell broke loose in the 'Green Zone'…
https://twitter.com/ali_almikdam/status/1564385526702120960
Ali Almikdam
@ali_almikdam
Clashes continue inside and around the IZ in #Baghdad.
Bullets, bombs and weapons that have been used in Baghdad 9 hours ago so far is enough to liberate Ukraine and invade Russia.
murat murat1968
@beratbilecik11
#iraq #baghdad #green_zone YEŞİL BÖLGE'nin içinde ve dışında yüzlerce silahlı Saraya Salam askeri, Irak Güvenlik Kuvvetleri her yerde ve Saraya Salam & Irak güvenlik güçleri ve PMF güçleri arasında çatışmalar devam ediyor!!!
Translated from Turkish by
#iraq #baghdad #green_zone Hundreds of armed Saraya Salam soldiers inside and outside the GREEN ZONE, Iraqi Security Forces are everywhere and clashes continue between Saraya Salam & Iraqi security forces and PMF forces!!!
https://twitter.com/beratbilecik11/status/1564386886621319172
Koshish Bestani
@Koshish_Bestani
This is not #UkraineRussiaWar, this is Iraq's Shiia groups fight in #Baghdad
# # # #iraq #GreenZone
https://twitter.com/Koshish_Bestani/status/1564386855629496323
so iraq civil war with iranian participation wont impact oil markets/price/supply and heating oil/ energy globally, right?
Syria and Turkey won't get involved, and Lebanon will turn the power back on, right?
China won't move on Taiwan right?
Biden didn't sign an EO for a CBDC to take effect in September which is in a few days? right?
US rail workers unions wont strike and seize 30-50% of goods on or around Sept 17, right?
Port workers and truckers won't join them? right?
Dark Winter inbound, it appears.
Good night ya'll.
Keep they heads ringin'
o7