The FPC in 2021: Much to Celebrate


Reed Luhtanen, Executive Director, FPC

At the start of any new year, it is only natural to reflect on the events that transpired over the past 12 months. While, as an organization, we faced a number of challenges with COVID’s lingering impacts, through strong and persistent Member support, the FPC continued to advance our agenda in 2021, and as such, has much to celebrate, as we look to 2022.

Industry Education
With FPC Member help, we continued to provide the industry with resources and educational materials to support faster payments adoption and advancement. We launched seven new white papers and reports, including the Cross Border Faster Payments White Paper and Why Interoperability is Important for Faster Payments report. We also published a Solutions Provider Catalogue, which details the available faster payments solutions, products and services offered by FPC members. The catalogue lists solution/product names, descriptions of solutions/products, method of clearing for the faster payment solution/product, and more. It really provides a simple overview of available faster payments options in the market today. Also in the coming weeks, our Directory Models Work Group will be releasing a new infographic, Making the Case for an Interoperable Directory to Facilitate Faster Payments, which takes both of its 2021 papers on directory models for faster payments and reduces the content into easily digestible tidbits for better industry understanding.


And earlier this year, we launched our podcast, “Off the Rails from the U.S. Faster Payments Council.” The podcast features monthly interviews with payments industry leaders discussing some of the most important faster payments topics affecting our industry. To date, the podcast has had more than 1500 downloads, and as a result of the success, in 2022, we will be increasing the frequency from monthly to bimonthly.

Member Education
We also continued to keep Members in the know, with Member-specific activities and events. This year, we held two Member Meetings, albeit virtual, still fruitful with 28 hours of education and networking, 75 Member and guest speakers, and more than 700 attendees across both events. We are planning to resume in-person meetings in 2022, with our first meeting planned for March 3-4 at the Loews New Orleans, with some new twists on how education is delivered to keep meetings more interactive. If interested in participating, please visit the FPC site to register.


In addition to our Member Meetings, we hosted five Town Hall events, with the most recent on the preliminary results of the third annual Faster Payments Barometer Study. The 2021 installment of the Study will provide insights into progress and perceptions around faster payments, as well as industry views on value-added services around faster payments and potential future enhancements. Results will officially be released in early 2022.

Member Engagement
We also helped ensure our Members remain engaged. To that end, we added a new Work Group, Secure Instant and Immediate Payment APIs, to our seven existing ones. And we established Microsoft Teams as a new membership engagement channel that’s leveraged across all the FPC’s Work Groups and other committees and Board. I wholeheartedly believe it is these efforts, along with our commitment to education, that the FPC now sits at 170 plus Members strong and growing.


So, yes, we have a lot to celebrate. And while our journey is far from over, we are making the steady and necessary progress to get us to ubiquitous faster payments for all. It is the FPC Members’ dedication and commitment, knowledge and understanding, and inspiration and passion for faster payments that continue to fuel the organization and our mission.

But we need more. As stated earlier, we are not at the finish line. We need a considerable and diverse membership base to represent the diverse nature of our industry. With strong and varied representation, we can ensure the various needs of the industry are addressed to achieve ubiquitous faster payments. So, if you have a passion for faster payments, and want to play a role in shaping its future, I invite you to consider being our newest Member.

Help us make 2022 a pivotal year in faster payments. We look forward to what’s to come next.
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