The U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC), a membership organization devoted to advancing faster payments in the United States, today announced that payments expert and industry veteran Reed Luhtanen will be its executive director. Most recently with Walmart Inc. and an officer on the FPC Board, Luhtanen brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience to this vital role. He succeeds Kimberly Ford, the FPC’s inaugural executive director. His first day with the FPC will be April 13.
“We’re thrilled to have Reed leading the FPC as executive director and look forward to leveraging his industry knowledge, expertise, and vision for the organization. His unique experience at the intersection of payments-related public policy, financial services, corporate treasury, and nonprofit service will help take the FPC to new heights,” said FPC Board Chairperson Michael Bilski. “Kim has done a tremendous job in laying a strong foundation of the FPC, raising the visibility of the organization, and setting us on a successful trajectory. Reed will build on that momentum, applying his leadership skills, deep roots in the payments industry, and fostering his existing relationships with our members and the board of directors. We are confident that he, along with our dedicated staff and members, will drive the FPC to greater success in 2020 and beyond.”
Luhtanen has extensive experience in the payments industry and has served on myriad industry bodies, most recently the Federal Reserve-sponsored Governance Framework Formation Team, which created the U.S. Faster Payments Council, and the Corporate Advisory Group for The Clearing House’s Real-Time Payments System. Prior to joining the FPC, he spent 15 years at Walmart, departing as senior director of global treasury, where he was responsible for the company’s payments-related public policy and public relations initiatives, network and processor relationships, and establishing Walmart’s payments acceptance strategies.
In 2015, Luhtanen was recognized as one of PayBefore’s “Top Ten Payments Lawyers” and The Electronic Transactions Association honored him as a member of its “Forty Under 40” class in 2019. He has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Arkansas’ Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to lead the FPC and further its commitment to advancing the path to a faster payments future in the United States. I plan to focus on working across the entire payments ecosystem to deliver tangible, valuable results for our members and the U.S. payments ecosystem overall,” said Luhtanen. “FPC members are everything to our organization, playing important roles as both idea generators and active contributors toward accomplishing our mission. I look forward to engaging with our members to get their ideas and perspectives and galvanizing our collective voices to inspire the next chapter of the FPC’s growth.”
The FPC is a unique organization in that companies from all industry segments can join as full members, participate in work groups, vote equally, and run for a seat on the FPC Board of Directors. “We want a big, open table surrounded by members who are dedicated to our mission,” Luhtanen said. “If you’re interested in helping to promote the availability and adoption of faster payments in the United States, this is the place to do that.”
The FPC prioritizes industry collaboration in tackling complex topics such as interoperability among faster payments solutions, identifying real-world solutions that can ease adoption of faster payments, managing security risks and fraud threats, addressing barriers to cross border payments, and more, as the organization paves the way toward a future of faster payments for all.
“There’s an enormous amount of interest in faster payments today, and I believe that the FPC is widely recognized as the industry leader on this issue,” said Ford. “Reed has been instrumental in the creation and growth of the FPC, and I’m thrilled he will be stepping into this important role as the organization continues to thrive. The FPC is also fortunate to have an enthusiastic board of directors and supportive members who collectively act on their passion to drive the U.S. toward a faster, more secure, and more efficient payments system.”
About the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC)
The FPC is an industry-led membership organization whose mission is to facilitate a world class payment system where Americans can safely and securely pay anyone, anywhere, at any time and with near-immediate funds availability. By design, the FPC encourages a diverse range of perspectives and is open to all stakeholders in the U.S. payment system. Guided by principles of fairness, inclusiveness, flexibility and transparency, the FPC will use collaborative, problem-solving approaches to resolve the issues that are inhibiting broad faster payments adoption in this country. For more information, please visit FasterPaymentsCouncil.org.
