Priced services fees at Fed will rise average of 2.4% for 2020

Fees will increase an average 2.4% for payment services under an approved fee schedule for 2020, the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday.

The Fed said its board approved the fee prices for Federal Reserve Banks that will recover 100.2% of priced services costs in the New Year. The Fed said reserve banks expect to fully recover actual and imputed expenses, including profit that would have been earned if a private-sector firm provided the services.

More specifically, the Fed said the price changes will result in:

  • A 3.3% average price increase for Check Services customers;
  • A 3.7% average price increase for Fedwire Funds Service customers;
  • and a 2.9% average price increase for FedLine Solutions customers.

The Fed said fees will be unchanged for Reserve Banks’ FedACH Service, National Settlement Service, and Fedwire Securities Service.

In other action, the Fed said its board had also approved an $18.9 million New Year fee private-sector adjustment factor (PSAF) for Reserve Bank priced services. The PSAF, the Fed said, is an allowance for income taxes and other imputed expenses that would have been paid and profit that would have been earned if the Reserve Banks’ priced services were provided by a private business.

According to the Fed, the Monetary Control Act of 1980 requires that the Federal Reserve 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.

Federal Reserve Board approves fee schedule for Federal Reserve Bank priced services