On September 11, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent a letter urging the Fed to adopt a proposed policy change to expand the operating days of the Fedwire Funds Service and National Settlement Service to include weekends and holidays. Brown states that the expansion aims to provide consumers with faster access to their money, reduce costs associated with overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees, and improve cash flow for small businesses. Additionally, Brown encouraged the Fed to explore extending settlement services to operate 24/7 while regularly assessing potential operational risks and continue developing a risk-management framework to protect wire transfer customers from fraud.
