FedNow Eyes Expansion with Upcoming Discount Program – Digital Transactions
Financial institutions pondering how FedNow, the real-time payment service from the Federal Reserve, might fit into their product sets will have a new incentive to factor in when the FedNow discount program begins Jan. 1.
Eligible FIs could receive a minimum of a $5,000 discount when enabling FedNow receive capabilities. Participation in other Fed programs, such as enabling FedNow Receive and enrolling and participating in the FedACH Receipt discount program, could yield up to $20,000 in statement credits.
But, the larger incentive is for those banks and credit unions that enable FedNow send. That incentive is a maximum discount of $20,000 for those enabling FedNow send and as much as $80,000 for enabling send and participating in the FedACH Receipt discount program. Volume qualifications apply for both the receive and send discounts. Financial institutions of all sizes may participate.
The move is to help propel growth of the FedNow instant payment service and is in response to signals that broader adoption of the send function could be motivated with the discounts.
“The FedNow statement credits give financial institutions a simple, fast way to tap into the full value of instant payments. By offsetting upfront costs, we’re helping organizations turn on send and receive capabilities sooner and start realizing benefits right away,” Nick Stanescu, FedNow’s chief executive, says in a statement.
Enabling both receive and send is viewed as essential to broader adoption of instant payments in the United States. A 2025 survey from Q2 Holdings Inc., a digital-banking services company, found that just 22% of financial institutions had both send and receive enabled on the RTP network, and only 4% on FedNow.
Still, FedNow is growing. In the second quarter, it had approximately 5 million total settled payments, a 117.4% increase from 2.1 million in the year-prior quarter. The average value per payment in the 2026 second quarter was $54,957, a 48.1% increase from $37,099 a year ago.
FedNow debuted in 2023. The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC’s RTP network, which also offers faster payments service to financial institutions, launched in 2017.
