all of this - identifying the need and timing for standards, incorporating a breadth of industry perspectives, and aligning on implementation approaches - requires an immense amount of coordination. and much of this coordination must take place among competitors. so often a neutral convener is needed to achieve better outcomes. that is why we have standard development organizations like iso to provide a forum where participants from the private sector, academia, and the public sector can contribute expertise and collectively shape standards in a way that meets business and public sector objectives, providing some comfort that the needs of all market participants and consumers will be considered. the federal reserve and payments technical standards that brings me to the federal reserve's roles in this process - not role but roles. one such role is to serve as a convenor, with this week's conference being a typical example. among standards development organizations, like the accredited standards committee x9 domestically and iso internationally, the fed is known for impartial facilitation of efforts to work toward a common goal. 3 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches in another role, the federal reserve leverages its expertise as a payment system operator to inform future standards and broader improvements in the payment system. for example, in 2015, the fed issued a call to action in its paper, " strategies for improving the u. s. payment system, " asking stakeholders to come together in pursuit of a better payment system for the future. the paper, and subsequent work, highlighted the role of standards to enhance payments security and efficiency at various points in the payment and ancillary processing flows, noting the importance of supporting industry efforts to develop and adopt standards, as well as common approaches to implementation. 6 the federal reserve itself adopts standards in its role as a payment system operator. for example, the fednow service, which went live in july 2023, was built using the iso 20022 messaging standard. incorporating this standard enables a number of operational efficiencies, including improved information exchange between financial institutions, support for straight - through processing, and reduction in errors and the need for manual processing steps. we have also committed to adopting the iso 20022 messaging standard for the federal reserve's wholesale payments service, the fedwire funds service, by march 2025. we expect this adoption will improve the speed of wholesale cross - border payments by reducing operational costs and promoting consistent communication across global platforms. the richer data in iso 20022 could also improve anti - money laundering and sanctions screening and

support broader adoption of extended remittance information. in serving as a neutral convenor, providing payments expertise, and improving payments in our role as a payment system operator, the fed extends its long history of engaging in the development of payments technical standards. conclusion as we navigate the latest wave of technological innovation in payments, the fundamental payment system dynamics and role of technical standards are not new. however, the pace of change is a lot faster now than in the 1910s, when paper checks were used. collaboration among a broad range of private and public stakeholders can help to establish standards for integrating the new technologies into the payment system. advocating for an open and transparent standards development process, where participants adopt standards that are technically sound and supportive of business and public objectives, is one way the federal reserve can help to foster payment system safety and efficiency, as well as support responsible innovation at its present rapid clip. 1 thank you to alex sproveri, hannah kim, and cy watsky of the federal reserve board and ainsley hargest of the federal reserve bank of minneapolis for their assistance in preparing this text. the views expressed here are my own and not necessarily those of my colleagues on the federal reserve board. 2 see alan greenspan, " our banking history " ( remarks at the annual meeting and conference of the conference of state bank supervisors, nashville, tn, may 2, 1998 ), 4 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches and daniel sanches, " the free - banking era : a lesson for today? ( pdf ), " economic insights ( third quarter 2016 ) : 9a€ “ 14. 3 see christopher j. neely, " the federal reserve's response to the september 11 attacks, " regional economist, january 01, 2002. 4 see section 3 of the check 21 act, pub. l. no. 108 - 100 ( 2003 ). 5 see christopher j. waller, " reflections on stablecoins and payments innovations " ( speech delivered via webcast at the 2021 financial stability conference, cohosted by the federal reserve bank of cleveland and the office of financial research, cleveland, oh, november 17, 2021 ). 6 see federal reserve system, " strategies for improving the u. s. payment system ( pdf ), " last modified january 26, 2015, and federal reserve system, " strategies for improving the u. s. payment system : federal reserve next steps in the payments improvement journey ( pdf ), " last modified september 6, 2017. 5