Excerpt:
One of the services taken offline was the Fedwire Funds Service, which the Fed describes as “the premier electronic funds-transfer service that banks, businesses and government agencies rely on for mission-critical, same-day transactions.” Entities use the service to send or receive payments, settle positions with other financial institutions and to submit tax payments, among other activities.
Also affected were FedACH, an automated clearinghouse network that enables debit and credit transactions, and Fedwire Securities, which provides transfer and settlement services for securities issued by the U.S. Treasury, government agencies and government-sponsored housing enterprises.
The first service to be restored — at 2:17 p.m. ET — was the Fed’s central bank programs, which include setting interest rates and allowing financial institutions to review and manage the money they hold at the Fed, called reserves. Fedwire and FedACH were back shortly before 3 p.m.
Author(s): Paul Kiernan and Orla McCaffrey
Publication Date: 24 February 2021
Publication Site: Wall Street Journal