Once your financial institution commits to joining the FedNow Service, the onboarding phase begins. The process pairs a digital onboarding tool with a dedicated customer service model and is designed to provide transparency, efficiency and support every step of the way.

Understanding what it takes to go live on the service can help make the process feel more manageable. Although each organization’s onboarding will be unique, financial institutions can expect to follow these general steps:

Step 1: Determine your internal onboarding team and decide who will be authorized to sign forms, grant approvals or permissions, and serve as primary FedNow Service contacts.

Step 2: Review and sign the appropriate appendices of Operating Circular 8, which grants financial institutions access to information that is important for setting up and operating with the FedNow Service.

Step 3: Connect with your onboarding manager who will guide you through the entire setup process and help address any questions you may have.

Step 4: Access the digital FedNow Service onboarding tool, which provides a real-time view of your financial institution’s onboarding progress.*

Step 5: Complete a questionnaire on key decisions, such as how you’ll connect to the FedNow Service, where you’ll settle, how you’ll participate and more.

Step 6: Establish connectivity to the FedNow Service, either directly using a FedLine^® Solution connection or via a service provider.

Step 7: Read and review all necessary documentation, gather information, and internally develop plans to meet the service requirements outlined in the Operating Procedures, Operating Circular 8, Technical Specifications and any other applicable document.

Step 8: Complete the FedNow Service Customer Testing Program, which is required for participants with a direct connection to the FedNow Service.*

Step 9: Complete a certification to validate successful completion of specific test cases and attest that your organization is operationally ready to participate in the FedNow Service.*

Step 10: Go live on the FedNow Service and enjoy the benefits that instant payments can bring to you and your customers.

*These steps only apply to financial institutions managing their own connection to the FedNow Service.

More details about each of these steps can be found in our new FedNow Service Onboarding Overview resource (Off-site).

For more information on instant payments and the FedNow Service, visit FedNowExplorer.org (Off-site).