Payment scams trigger joint action – FDIC, Fed & OCC seek systemwide reform, opening a consultation that could transform fraud prevention across digital rails. It aims to cover everything – from FedNow and ACH to interbank transfers, P2P interfaces, mobile wallets, payment initiation services, and even manually processed instructions.
RFI from Three Leading U.S. Regulators – Not Just About Fraud
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB) have jointly launched a Request for Information aimed at gathering industry proposals to address payment scams. This includes classic schemes such as impersonation, spoofing, and authorized push payment fraud, as well as more complex scenarios involving social engineering.
Importantly, the scope encompasses the entire architecture of digital settlements, with specific mention of FedNow, ACH, P2P interfaces, mobile wallets, and other payment initiation services. The request is structured around five key areas:
- Coordination among participants. This refers to any proposals related to interagency and interplatform synchronization of scam detection approaches, prioritization of response actions, and data sharing.
- Education and interfaces. This area calls for user education, the creation of a shared library of fraud scenarios, and the implementation of UX practices to reduce risk – for example, mandatory alerts for high-risk templates.
- Control and procedures. Although partially implemented in existing systems, this section invites proposals to improve mechanisms for temporary transaction holds, the introduction of pauses in payment chains, and unlocking upon request.
- Data collection and categorization. These proposals aim to simplify investigations by introducing standardized fraud codes, incident registries, and interoperable fraud data repositories with audit capabilities.
- Real-time system features. This involves the development of integrated “confirmation of payee” mechanisms, refusal logic, anomaly-detection APIs, and interfaces with fraud intelligence sources.
How might this extend to crypto platforms and on-chain transactions? Technically, not through identical mechanisms, due to the architectural and infrastructural differences from traditional financial systems. However, in its principles and operational practices, such approaches are fully applicable.
A more important question may be whether this will bring greater resilience to the crypto industry or simply increase oversight. In other words, is this about building a trust architecture or expanding supervisory and fiscal control? What provides more reliability – decentralized consensus or centralized traceability?
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Conclusion
Nonetheless, the unified effort by the FDIC, FRB, and OCC to build a universal, flexibly regulated, and interoperable anti-fraud infrastructure is potentially a positive and proactive step, especially as digital assets and transaction volumes continue to grow year over year and become an increasingly frequent target for bad actors.
