Tech Crunch: “The U.S. government’s instant payment system, FedNow Service, went live this week.  Here’s a quick refresher on what that is: FedNow is an instant payment infrastructure for transferring money that promises to be a faster payment rail for financial institutions, offering immediate access to funds no matter the day or time. As you know, this is huge because banks aren’t traditionally open 24/7 or let you receive money and use it on the same day.  It’s also something that the U.S. has been considered “behind” on in light of the fact that other countries have been live with similar services for some time, including Brazil, India, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The Federal Reserve said banks and credit unions of all sizes can sign up and use the tool. There are about 35 such financial institutions on the list already. In addition, 16 service providers are on board to support payment processing for banks and credit unions. As TX Zhuo, managing partner of Fika Ventures, noted in a June guest column, contract employees can now get paid immediately and by other means than cash, and smaller financial institutions can now offer the same level of service that large institutions and fintechs can. The ability to get paid quicker through FedNow may also reduce the need for people to take out payday loans.”