Pub. 11 2016-2017 Issue 2

www.nebankers.org 16 Extraordinary Service for Extraordinary Members.  Counselor’s Corner — continued from page 15 ing behind other countries; (iii) faster payments may draw more of the unbanked into the system; and (iv) stakeholder momentum for faster payments clearly exists. The Faster Payments Task Force was created to pursue this strategy. Earlier this year, the task force published “Faster Payments Effectiveness Criteria” that will be used soon to assess pro- posed faster payment solutions. The task force also produced a decision-making framework and glossary of terms that it will use in assessing solutions. The task force’s assessment is expected to be published in 2017. In its 2015 strategy document, the Federal Reserve indicated that it would not consider an operational role in faster payments unless it would yield clear public benefits and unless other providers alone could not be expected to provide the capability within certain parameters and following public comment. STRATEGY 3: Reduce Fraud Risk and Ad- vance the Safety, Security, and Resiliency of the Payment System Few bankers need to be told that threats to payment confidentiality and integrity are escalating, especially with regard to electronic payments. More payment options and new entrants to the payments marketplace bring additional risks. The Federal Reserve’s Payments Security Landscape Study has identified four key weaknesses in U.S. payment system security: (i) failure to keep pace with changes in the threat environment is occurring; (ii) suboptimal security technologies and improper implementations have resulted in compromises that are highly impactful, broadly visible, and damaging to public confidence; (iii) insufficient collec- tion, reporting, and research on threat data exists; and (iv) a complex regulatory environment, particularly for nonbanks and emerging payments, leaves open the possibility of gaps and creates confusion. The Secure Payments Task Force has collaborated with the Faster Payments Task Force on developing the security-related elements of the Faster Pay- ments Effectiveness Criteria. The task force also counseled the Federal Reserve on security-related issues and identified some specific initial payment security topics to focus on going forward. Those topics are payment identitymanagement, law and regulation coordination, information sharing for mitigat- ing payment risk, and data protection. In its 2015 strategy document, the Federal Reserve stated that it believed, as a practical matter, it was preferable to pursue its strategy in this area via non-regulatory/non-legislative tactics.