On October 25, 2016, the US Federal Reserve Board announced the approval of fee schedules, effective January 3, 2017, for payment services the Federal Reserve Banks provide to depository institutions (priced services). The Monetary Control Act of 1980 requires that the Federal Reserve Board establish fees to recover the costs of providing priced services, including imputed costs, over the long run, to promote competition between the Reserve Banks and private-sector service providers.
The Reserve Banks project that they will recover 100 percent of their priced services costs in 2017. The Reserve Banks expect to fully recover actual and imputed expenses, including profit that would have been earned if a private business firm provided the services. Overall, the Reserve Banks estimate that the price changes will result in a 3.2 percent average price increase. In particular, the Reserve Banks estimate that the price changes will result in: (i) a 5.3 percent average price increase for FedACH® customers; (ii) a 3.3 percent average price increase for Fedwire® Funds customers; (iii) an 18 percent average price increase for Fedwire Securities Service customers; and (iv) an 8.1 percent average price increase for FedLine® customers. The fees will remain unchanged for the Reserve Banks' National Settlement Service and check service. The 2017 fee schedule for each of the priced services is available on the Federal Reserve Banks' financial services website at FRBservices.org.
The Federal Register notice is available at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/other/other20161025a1.pdf.
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