Kansas City Federal Reserve President, Esther George has put in his concerns about the threats of cybersecurity in U.S. payment networks which were undermining public confidence in payment technologies.
The statement was made by George on Wednesday (October 12) at a conference in Chicago on the payments system where he did not address the U.S. economy but expressed his worry for increasing cyber security threat.
Earlier this year in February, cyber criminals hacked into major U.S. banks and stole $81 million from an account at New York Fed by penetrating into an international payments network, SWIFT.
George said, “We must keep pace with the rapidly evolving and expanding risks that threaten the payments ecosystem.”
Earlier U.S. President Barack Obama also addressed the growing problem of cyber security at the G20 international summit in China.
Presently, two task forces are working on proposals for faster and more secure payments in the U.S which will be released to the public in 2017. The groups include private and public officials including representatives of financial institutions, consumer groups, payment service providers, fintech firms, businesses, and government agencies.
The Federal Reserve is beginning a review of 19 proposals from two national payment industry taskforces charged with identifying potential a faster U.S. payments system. There are around 500 members in the two task forces, one of which focuses on faster payment capabilities while the other is considering how to enhance security in payment systems.
