Across recent months of industry meetings, conferences and association discussions, one question has surfaced repeatedly among credit unions: Why the FedNow® Service and why now? These conversations have brought a broader set of strategic considerations that we believe are important to examine more closely as the industry continues its accelerated adoption of instant payments.

For the first time in more than 50 years, the Federal Reserve introduced a new payments infrastructure with the launch of the FedNow Service in 2023. Since then, adoption has accelerated rapidly. More than 1,700 financial institutions participate in the FedNow network and annual Federal Reserve statistics show that the service processed over $853 billion in payments during 2025. The rapid growth of the FedNow Service isn't driven by technology, though that is critical, it's driven by changing consumer expectations.

One of the most important use cases we’ve seen with the FedNow Service is Earned Wage Access (EWA), which allows employees and contractors to be paid as wages are earned instead of waiting for a week or two for a paycheck to arrive. As digital experiences continue to shape consumer expectations, delayed access to earned income increasingly feels out of step with the realities of modern work. 

For many workers, the ability to be paid the same day work is performed is critical, particularly for gig workers whose job type and hours may change daily. After all, the gig economy doesn’t operate on banking hours. Why should payments? The FedNow Service enables participating financial institutions to send and receive payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This capability aligns directly with the needs of EWA programs.

The EWA ecosystem is expanding rapidly. Many well-known employers have publicly reported the adoption of EWA programs as part of their employee benefits strategy, including Walmart, Target, McDonald's, Wendy’s, Kroger, Hilton, Marriott and HCA Healthcare. What began as a niche workplace benefit has evolved into a broader workforce expectation, particularly among hourly employees, gig workers and younger generations who value financial flexibility and immediate access to earned income. This is where the FedNow Service becomes strategically important. Credit unions that can receive and process instant payments are better positioned to support employees of EWA-enabled companies and to partner with employers seeking to modernize payroll and enhance employee financial wellness.

Credit unions that do not offer FedNow instant payments may not notice a member impact immediately. Instead, the impact tends to emerge gradually through what can best be described as a silent erosion of relevance. When members repeatedly encounter faster, more convenient payment experiences elsewhere, their expectations shift. Over time, this shift can weaken primary account relationships, reduce deposit stickiness and ultimately shrink share of wallet. At the same time, prospective new members who value instant payments and EWA may never consider a credit union without instant pay capabilities, a loss in future growth that is difficult to measure but very real.

Instant payments matter now and your members expect it. Earned Wage Access illustrates how the FedNow Service is already delivering tangible value for credit unions and is expected to expand as instant payments become more widely adopted. Although the payments landscape will continue to evolve, one trend is unmistakable: members increasingly expect immediate access to their funds. By leveraging the FedNow Service, credit unions can meet these expectations with secure, 24/7 instant payments while positioning themselves to support future payment innovations.

Instant payments are no longer a future consideration, they are a strategic necessity. Contact Catalyst to learn how the FedNow Service can fit into your payments strategy and help your credit union deliver the real-time experiences members increasingly expect.