Recommendation 8: Develop cross–solution education and advocacy programs aimed at awareness and adoption.
The Faster Payments Task Force calls for development of cross–solution education and advocacy programs. Programs targeted at potential end users would focus on building awareness of faster payments in general to assist in achieving the core ecosystem goal of broad adoption. Programs targeted at potential solution operators and service providers would focus on awareness of the task force’s Effectiveness Criteria related to the provision of faster payments services and baseline requirements established for faster payments solutions under the governance framework.
Detail
The task force believes that education and advocacy programs for end users, solution operators, and service providers are an important part of achieving the core ecosystem goal of broad adoption.
For end users, the task force recommends that the goal of awareness and understanding of faster payments in general should be the focus, and programs should be appropriately targeted to achieve broad adoption of faster payments, including for underserved end users. The task force acknowledges and emphasizes that these education programs are not a substitute for strong rules on end–user protections.
For solution operators and service providers, the task force recommends targeting programs to ensure awareness of the Effectiveness Criteria, particularly “Usability” (U.2) and “Accessibility” (U.1), as well as the baseline requirements for faster payments established under the governance framework (see Recommendation 2). The education and advocacy programs for service providers described in this recommendation are separate from marketing campaigns that faster payments solutions may undertake to promote their individual solutions.
Who
A group(s) under the governance framework will design and fund these programs (see Recommendation 1).
Timing
The task force recommends education and advocacy programs commence as soon as possible following the establishment of the governance framework.