News

US Faster Payments Council announces leadership, 2019 agenda

January 17, 2019

The U.S. Faster Payments Council, a new organization formed to facilitate payments with near-immediate funds availability, has named Kevin Christensen, an executive with the Shazam Network, as its acting executive director and interim board chair. 

A press release listed other interim positions and appointees as:

• Work group lead and interim board vice chair — Matt Friend, vice president of payment products and platforms, Visa.
• Communications and member engagement lead — Deborah Phillips, managing director of payment strategy, Jack Henry & Associates.
• Marketing lead — Andrea Gilman, senior vice president of product management, Mastercard.
• Finance and accounting lead and interim board secretary-treasurer — Mike Bilski, CEO, North American Banking Co.
• Operations lead — Charles Harkness, senior vice president and strategic operations officer, Corporate One Federal Credit Union.
• HR and staffing lead — Roy DeCicco, managing director of treasury services, JPMorgan Chase Bank.
• Membership strategy lead — Bradley Wilkes, president, CEO and co-founder, Open Payment Network.
• Member services lead — Adam Rust, Wise Wage and Reinvestment Partners.

According to the release, work is underway to establish FPC work groups to address issues that can catalyze broad adoption of faster payments in the U.S. These include:

• Safety and security — promoting adoption of practices that enhance safety and security of faster payments. Led by Steve Kenneally, senior vice president, American Bankers Association.
• End-user transparency — helping end users to understand what to expect when making faster payments. Led by Steve Ledford, senior vice president, The Clearinghouse.
• Education and awareness — developing a program that results in greater confidence in faster payments among providers and users. Led by Susan Doyle, president of Epcor.

Work groups the FPC plans to launch later in the year will address fraud information sharing; directory models; and regulations and regulatory guidance.

Organizations that join the FPC before Jan. 31, 2019 as founding members gain eligibility for the initial FPC board, among other benefits.