Fed to Open Streamlined Payment Accounts, Direct Rail Access by Q4 2026

What happened

On 12 Nov 2025 Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller announced the Fed will launch streamlined payment accounts by Q4 2026, opening risk‐tailored access to Fed payment infrastructure for non‐bank fintechs and digital‐asset firms without full master account privileges. The Fed will issue a request for information (RFI) before formal rulemaking to collect industry feedback.

Why this matters

Policy shift with market and innovation implications. Allowing non‐bank direct access to central payment rails could reduce reliance on bank intermediaries, lower costs for fintechs and crypto firms, and accelerate payment innovation (real‐time transfers, cross‐border flows, stablecoin rails). The timeline — operational by Q4 2026 with an RFI expected in late 2025–early 2026 — gives firms, banks and regulators a clear planning horizon for compliance, technology and partnership decisions.

Key context and scale from the article:

• ACH (Q3 2025): 8.8 billion payments worth $23.2 trillion (volumes +5.2%, value +8.2% y/y); B2B = 2.1 billion transactions (+10%).
• The Clearing House RTP (Q3 2025): 115 million transactions, $405 billion (volume +7% y/y); single‐day record on 3 Oct 2025 = 1.8 million transactions worth $5.2 billion.
• FedNow (Q3 2025): ~2.51 million payments worth $307.3 billion (transaction count +17.6%, value +25.0% over prior quarter). The FedNow per‐payment cap is being raised from $1 million to $10 million in November 2025, enabling higher‐value use cases.
• Risks noted include operational/systemic exposures from new non‐bank entrants, potential limits on inclusion if eligibility mirrors master accounts, and possible timeline delays during RFI and rulemaking.

The Fed’s RFI will shape eligibility, risk controls and compliance obligations; parallel congressional work on stablecoin and digital‐asset rules could intersect with the new account model.

Sources

• Reuters: Fed Gov. Christopher Waller on streamlined payment accounts (12 Nov 2025) — https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/feds-waller-streamlined-payment-accounts-be-operational-by-4q-2026-2025-11-12/
• Vertifi: U.S. payment‐rails expansion and Q3 2025 metrics — https://us.vertifi.com/u-s-payment-rails-expand-amid-digital-push/
• Axios: Context on congressional stablecoin and digital‐asset discussions — https://www.axios.com/pro/fintech-deals/2025/06/26/fintech-ceos-us-banking-rails

• ACH payments — 8.8 billion transactions (Q3 2025; +5.2% YoY; U.S. ACH network)
• ACH payment value — $23.2 trillion (Q3 2025; +8.2% YoY; U.S. ACH network)
• RTP transactions — 115 million (Q3 2025; +7% YoY; The Clearing House RTP network)
• FedNow transactions — 2.51 million (Q3 2025; +17.6% QoQ; FedNow Service)
• FedNow payment value — $307.3 billion (Q3 2025; +25.0% QoQ; FedNow Service)

• Bold Non-bank direct-access risk and compliance load: Granting fintechs/digital-asset firms direct Fed rail access by Q4 2026 introduces operational/systemic risk at ACH/RTP/FedNow scale (ACH Q3 2025: 8.8B payments, $23.2T), while master-account-level eligibility and unclear obligations could constrain inclusion and supervisory clarity. Opportunity: shape risk-tiered controls via the RFI, run staged pilots, and leverage regtech/AML/KYC and bank-provided liquidity/compliance services to de-risk access (beneficiaries: regtechs, compliance vendors, banks repositioning as service partners).

• Bold Bank disintermediation and revenue pressure: As intermediated access declines, banks/payment providers risk losing gatekeeper economics and client relationships, with faster rails (e.g., FedNow limit rising to $10M; RTP growth) accelerating the shift. Mitigation: pivot to value-add offerings—compliance, liquidity, customer services, onboarding—and Banking-as-a-Service models; early-moving banks and processors can capture new fee pools.

• Bold Known unknown—Timeline and policy coupling: Although targeted for Q4 2026, RFI → rulemaking → tech implementation could slip, and concurrent stablecoin legislation may reshape access models and compliance duties, affecting product roadmaps and capital allocation. Mitigation: scenario planning, modular builds, active engagement in the RFI/consultations, and partnership optionality; infrastructure providers and advisors benefit from demand for readiness and contingency planning.

Depending on where you sit, the Fed’s Q4 2026 “streamlined payment accounts” are either a long-overdue on-ramp or a risk rebranded as access. Supporters see direct Fed rail connectivity cutting dependency costs and unblocking real-time, cross-border, and stablecoin-based tools—momentum echoed by rising ACH, RTP, and FedNow volumes and a higher FedNow cap. Skeptics note that, as Reuters reports, Governor Waller said “eligibility rules will remain the same,” a choice that could blunt inclusion even as it trims complexity. There’s also the harder stuff: non-banks can import operational and systemic risk, legacy AML/KYC stacks aren’t plug-and-play, and a Q4 2026 target can slip if the RFI and rulemaking bog down. And the provocation hanging over all of it: if everyone can plug into the Fed, who needs banks—or are they about to become the most important vendors in the room?

Here’s the counterintuitive takeaway: opening the gate wider may enrich the gatekeepers who master onboarding, compliance, and risk controls more than the flashiest front-end innovators. The article’s own playbook points there—banks repositioning to value-add services, fintechs prepping audits and controls now, investors hunting for infrastructure firms that can operationalize access at scale. Watch the RFI text and industry responses, early pilot cohorts, and whether FedNow’s post–$10 million cap lift pulls usage toward higher-value cases; watch Congress on stablecoins too, because those rules will collide with account design. The rails are being rebuilt in public, and the winners will be the ones who treat access not as a shortcut, but as an obligation they’re ready to meet on day one.