While the existing payment infrastructure provided by the Federal Reserve has generally served community banks and the nation’s economy well, advances in technology have also created opportunities to modernize these payment services. Collectively, these efforts will create a modern payment infrastructure that provides community banks the ability to meet customer expectations in offering innovative services with the same effectiveness and efficiency as other providers.
The monetary policy for the 17 countries of the euro area is decided by the Governing Council of the ECB in Frankfurt. However, the fiscal policies of the 17 members of the euro area is a matter for the national policymakers – each country decides itself on its own government revenues and expenditures.