Payment System Access
Following considerable controversy surrounding how Federal Reserve Banks grant master accounts, it has finalized a somewhat more explicit set of guidelines along lines proposed the second time the Fed attempted to set guidelines via a “supplemental” proposal earlier this year amending its 2021 effort. Doubtless expecting the controversy which followed these final guidelines, the Fed was at pains in both the preamble and release to emphasize that the new standards are “transparent and equitable.” However, as noted below, some changes to the supplemental in fact increase Fed and/or Reserve-Bank discretion to grant or deny payment-system accounts on a case-by-case basis above and beyond the specifics again provided related to different charters and risks.