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Six Hundred AtlanticAuthor: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Six Hundred Atlantic tells the stories of the people of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and their work to shape the historic region they serve. The podcast explores the trends, challenges, and insights uncovered by the Boston Feds economists, researchers, and analysts, and it reports on how the Bank is working to strengthen the New England and national economies and make sure economic opportunity is open to all. Language: en Genres: Education, Government Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Instant payments, instant impact?: Why speed matters
Tuesday, 10 February, 2026
Instant payments often aren’t “instant” at all, due to lags between when money is sent and received. These lags can be costly for people who need the money immediately to pay bills on time. Some end up paying late or overdraft fees. Others are forced to turn to expensive alternative financial services, like payday loans. Brian Clarke is a payments analyst and deputy director in the Regional & Community Outreach department at the Boston Fed. He spoke with us about the emergence of truly “real-time” instant payments, when money is sent and received in seconds. He says this speedy payment processing can really help small businesses and lower-income households avoid fees and costly services. The FedNow Service is the Federal Reserve’s real-time instant payments infrastructure. Learn more about it at https://explore.fednow.org/about. For more interviews and analysis of the economy in New England and nationwide, visit BostonFed.org/SixHundredAtlantic.aspx. Subscribe to our email list to stay updated on new episodes.
