Fed Task Force Releases Payment Lifecycles And Security Profiles

Through the collaborative efforts of those with backgrounds in payments and security, the Federal Reserve’s Secure Payments Task Force has published “Payment Lifecycles and Security Profiles.” The profiles serve as educational materials outlining the lifecycles, security characteristics and relevant laws and regulations for the most common payment types, the Federal Reserve said in a press release.

“We believe the profiles are a valuable tool for all payments providers to assess where they can enhance their operations and improve overall payment security practices,” Christopher Danvers, VP of Payments and Digital Services for American Airlines Federal Credit Union and co-chair of the work group responsible for the profiles, said in the press release.

The profiles provide a perspective on the most common payment types, covering enrollment, transaction flow and reconciliation. They also cover security methods — and identity management controls — along with relevant laws and regulations, among other topics.

Established in June 2015, the Secure Payments Task Force has engaged more than 200 financial institutions, consumer groups, payment service providers, financial technology firms, merchants, government agencies and others interested in payment security improvement efforts.

Beyond advising the Faster Payments Task Force on security issues, the group focuses on identifying the challenges and opportunities related to improving payment security, including identity management, data protection and information sharing to mitigate fraud.

In Nov. 2017, the task force published a catalog of payment-related Information Sharing Data Sources that covered the identification and reduction of payment system fraud in an effort to spur greater adoption and use by the industry.

“The task force has been an important forum for bringing focus to our collective security dialogue, creating a foundation for ongoing collaboration on specific security topics,” Ken Montgomery, the Federal Reserve’s payments security strategy leader and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in the release. “Strong stakeholder collaboration is key to maintaining public confidence in the U.S. payment system and keeping pace with the rapidly evolving and expanding threat environment.”

With the publication of the profiles, the task force will transition into the FedPayments Improvement Community to continue to engage with the Fed’s ongoing payment improvement initiatives.