Federal Reserve Board – Federal Reserve Board announces pricing, effective January 1, 2027, for payment services the Federal Reserve Banks provide to banks and credit unions, and changes to streamline and adjust their check services

The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced pricing, effective January 1, 2027, for payment services the Federal Reserve Banks provide to banks and credit unions, such as the clearing of checks, automated clearing house (ACH) transactions, instant payments, and wholesale payment and settlement services.

By law, the Federal Reserve must establish fees to recover the costs, including imputed costs, of providing payment services over the long run. The Federal Reserve expects to recover 101.5 percent of actual and imputed expenses in 2027, including the return on equity that would have been earned if a private-sector firm provided the services. Overall, price changes for 2027 will result in an estimated 1.4 percent average price increase for established, mature services.

In addition, the Federal Reserve Banks announced changes to streamline and adjust their check services. As described in the request for information on check services issued last year, the volume of checks processed by the Federal Reserve Banks is declining, but checks remain an important payment instrument for many consumers and businesses. The changes were informed by public feedback and ensure that the Federal Reserve Banks continue to provide check services efficiently. The adjustments include optimizing check processing windows during low-volume periods, increasing fees that banks and credit unions pay to process checks, and other operational updates. These changes do not impact consumers' and businesses' ability to pay with or receive checks and only impact how banks and credit unions process checks with Federal Reserve Banks.

The entire 2027 fee schedule for all of the Federal Reserve's payment services is published on FRBservices.org^®. Additional information on the Federal Reserve's payments services, including service usage statistics, is available on the Board's website.

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