Fostering a safe, efficient, and widely accessible payments infrastructure has been a central part of the Fed’s mission since the very beginning. The Federal Reserve Banks all around the country have provided payment and settlement services alongside the private sector for more than 100 years.
Over that period, we have repeatedly innovated and invested in collaboration with the private sector to transform the payment system,  I am grateful to Kirstin Wells of the Federal Reserve Board for her assistance in preparing this text. The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Open Market Committee.