Finzly Launches API Giving Developers Access to FedNow Service

Finzly now enables developers at platforms, FinTechs and financial institutions to access the FedNow Service.

The banking and payment technology firm, which is a pilot participant in the FedNow Service, said in a Wednesday (Feb. 8) press release that it has launched an application programming interface (API) connection that enables developers to access the new U.S. instant payment rail.

“Finzly APIs and its direct connection to the FedNow service will accelerate the adoption of instant payments in several use cases,” Finzly CEO Booshan Rengachari said in the release. “We are excited about being the world’s first player to offer access to FedNow service via an API.”

The FedNow Service — which is to launch later this year — is expected to catalyze broad access to instant payments for consumers and businesses, Nick Stanescu, senior vice president and FedNow business executive, Federal Reserve Financial Services, told PYMNTS in an interview posted Feb. 1.

The instant payments system will mark the reality of truly modern payments in the United States, three payments experts told PYMNTS in an interview posted in November 2022.

Dan Baum, senior vice president, head of payments product for the FedNow Service, said the FedNow functionality “plugs into” the master accounts at the Federal Reserve system.

Settlement will be done instantly in real time to the master accounts, which are also interacting with all the other existing payment services, and they are the accounts upon which correspondents and other financial institutions will rely, Baum said at the time.

“We’ve seen a lot of excitement in the industry, and it’s being conveyed in the readiness of FedNow Pilot Program organizations and their customers,” Baum said.

With Finzly’s API connection, developers can access the sandbox environment connected to the pilot version of FedNow Service to build and test payment experiences that transact on the service, according to the press release.

This will enable them to embed the FedNow Service in their platforms, apps or digital banking tools, the release said.

“The future of the economy is connected and real-time,” Rengachari said in the release. “Insurance payouts, government benefits, healthcare payments, online commerce, subscriptions, point of sale, investment, lending, treasury and several other platforms are expected to connect to the new FedNow Service for an integrated, cardless, bank-to-bank, instant payment experience.”