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FedNow Is Live

federalreserve.gov

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Re: FedNow Is Live

#301

Post by mavili »

no_wizard wrote: post #96

Is there going to be a universal SDK / API we can use with this? This would cut alot of middle companies out of the payments industry (or at least put pressure on lowering fees). That would be a huge win. Wish we could do the same for the credit card companies. Would be great if the Federal Government could intervene in some way to have Visa / Mastercard / American Express / Discover use the same API interface for pa…

> This would cut alot of middle companies out of the payments industry

Not really. All it will do is let the same companies change the way they handle average citizens' payments.

It's the same as Open Banking in Europe. It is supposed allow small businesses to leverage this to enable innovation and all that stuff, but when you want to use these APIs you find there are limitations on who can actually use it. For example, you can only put your service to production by being on a "directory" of approved providers, and to be on that directory you need something 25k or 50k in an account. So, not really that useful for a small startup wanting to make a product out of it.

Banking systems are the backbone of world power dominance, big players won't let small people share it.

Re: FedNow Is Live

#302

Post by adamsmith143 »

lockhouse wrote: post #56
Analemma_ wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FedNow is a replacement for ACH which is an ancient, creaking monstrosity. If we can't ever replace or fix old, busted infrastructure because of conspiratorial rambling, we are fucked as a civilization.

I’ve seen a lot of crazy conspiracy theories reveal themselves to be true in the past five years. Apply some critical thinking on this. Governments and corporate elites worldwide are salivating over the level of surveillance and control that a CBDC will enable.

> I’ve seen a lot of crazy conspiracy theories reveal themselves to be true in the past five years.

Such as what?

>Apply some critical thinking on this. Governments and corporate elites worldwide are salivating over the level of surveillance and control that a CBDC will enable.

How is this any different from the current system? Your cash is 99% digital anyway with basically every transaction completely monitor-able to the Feds under the right circumstances. Don't see how this situation would change much.

Re: FedNow Is Live

#303

Post by notRobot »

2143 wrote: post #254
earthboundkid wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived in Japan twenty years ago, everybody just wired money electronically and checks were long obsolete. In the US, I write checks every week or so. They also had a system where you would put your checkbook into the teller machine and it would print your credits and debits into the book for you. It was very convenient. On the downside, the ATMs were turned off (!) during national holidays, so you had to get c…

> They also had a system where you would put your checkbook into the teller machine and it would print your credits and debits into the book for you. That's intresting to know. Where I'm at, we had (still have?) a "passbook", a small booklet where you could get all your transactions printed onto. But AFAIK we couldn't do it ourselves through the teller machine though. Once in a few months or so you go to the respecti…

I've seen (and actually even used once, I think) automatic passbook updating printer machines in quite a few ATMs in some places.

Re: FedNow Is Live

#304

Post by wslh »

HoyaSaxa wrote: post #298

For those curious, it is really using IBM MQ[1] under the hood and uses a bespoke flavor of the ISO 20022 specification. The FedNow Service itself is the tip of the iceberg in terms of what actually happens from an end-to-end perspective. We've been working to become a Certified Service Provider so feel free to ask me anything. I'm happy to share anything that is not under NDA. [1] https://www.ibm.com/products/mq

What is innovative and/or well engineered there? Could any bank or financial institution connect seamlessly with the system? How does it handle security keys, transparency, and transaction log duration?

Re: FedNow Is Live

#305

Post by dheera »

HoyaSaxa wrote: post #298

For those curious, it is really using IBM MQ[1] under the hood and uses a bespoke flavor of the ISO 20022 specification. The FedNow Service itself is the tip of the iceberg in terms of what actually happens from an end-to-end perspective. We've been working to become a Certified Service Provider so feel free to ask me anything. I'm happy to share anything that is not under NDA. [1] https://www.ibm.com/products/mq

Does this end the T + 2day ridiculousness? It should be T + 1millisecond at worst. What does it take to update 2 "balance" values in databases?

Re: FedNow Is Live

#306

Post by NamTaf »

bboygravity wrote: post #264
chimeracoder wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't really want a gigantic federal agency having insight into every financial transaction I make. Hard, fucking, pass. If that's the case, I have bad news for you about the banking system of literally every developed country.

Ever heard of cash? I can buy an icecream anywhere in the world without anybody tracking me. Even with the "wrong" political opinion (even if I would be a trucker in Canada during certain protests). I cannot do that with CBDC. No. CBDC (aka: the ultimate totalitarian's dream) is not the same as the current banking system, despite the current banking system also being very horrible for privacy. * All of the above assu…

That's a very load-bearing assumption.

Re: FedNow Is Live

#307

Post by imtringued »

idiotsecant wrote: post #85
jrockway wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Federal Reserve sets the interest rate that it loans money at. You are free to loan money to anyone at a lower rate if you wish.

I mean, that is true in the same way that if I want to create some shrutebucks and loan them out at the schrute reserve rate you are also free to loan out shrutebucks at whatever rate you want. The fed may have a small advantage you are willfully overlooking.

If we believe neoclassical theory then if the fed sets the rate too high we get deflation and if the fed sets the interest rate too low we will get inflation and we will get those things very quickly with very little delay. This means that the policy rate would have to mirror whatever the optimal market rate is.

If we accept some minor inflation, then the fed is always setting the rate a bit too low rather than too high.

In other words. Whatever the Fed does, it is mostly irrelevant.

On the other hand, if there is actually some leeway and elasticity then monetary policy can actually result in increases in economic welfare. In this scenario we want to see some utilitarian meddling.

Re: FedNow Is Live

#308

Post by realce »

candiddevmike wrote: post #205
bluescrn wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine being paid in a ‘programmable’ currency that your employer (or government) decides cannot be spent on alcohol, meat, or fossil fuels. Meanwhile, wealthier people get paid in ‘unrestricted’ currency.

That already exists today, food stamps/SNAP/EBT for low income and dollars for everyone else I'd just as soon give everyone dollars via UBI

Your employer doesn't pay you in food stamps, they pay you in money you can use to buy anything you need in the entire world.

The government provides coupons that allow you to buy food which is remediated to the seller in dollars. The authority and funding to provide that service is something that voters can impact or change.

These are very different things, not "that already exists" at all.

Re: FedNow Is Live

#309

Post by imtringued »

sidpatil wrote: post #87
djfobbz wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For one, unlike cash, the issuing entity can program CBDC to expire on a specific date unless utilized. Another horror use case is that they could track and limit how many hamburgers or pizzas you eat daily, weekly, monthly or yearly!

> For one, unlike cash, the issuing entity can program CBDC to expire on a specific date unless utilized. The idea isn't new. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Gesell

He merely suggested a small fee though. 5.1% per year and only on cash, not some CDBC with privacy concerns. If you keep your money on savings accounts you wouldn't pay anything. If the economy is growing you would get paid interest. If the economy is declining you might pay negative interest.

This is different from a coupon that expires instantly. That is a terrible idea. Don't do this.

Also, the idea of demurrage currencies is to replace the devaluation via inflation with a nominal fee so it is possible that in countries with high inflation rates, the new currency would end up losing less value over time simply because it maintains price stability easily.

Edit: btw. His theory is dated in the sense that Keynes and Dieter Suhr have an updated interpretation. With a hint of Fisher Black you are going to get one of the most interesting economic theories that can explain most of the suffering in the world based on very few assumptions. The money and land reform policy proposals still remain relevant today.

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