Federal Reserve elects Kansas man to payments steering committee

The Federal Reserve recently elected Chris Gilbert of Wichita to its new 16-member secure payments steering committee, according to a news release.

The committee is charged with gathering intelligence from the Fed’s secure payments task force and assisting the task force’s chairperson in helping the Fed identify strategies to create a faster and safer U.S. payment system. Gilbert is the chief information officer at Bankers’ Bank of Kansas and has worked for the banking services organization since 1998.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to be involved in this project,” Gilbert said Monday. “What we’re going to be doing is working with payment-related industries to eventually provide a more secure, faster payment mechanism that will eventually replace paying with checks, wire transfers, bill pay options and other outdated payment techniques.”

Gilbert said the task force, which has 200 members, provides a forum for stakeholders to advise the Fed on payment security matters and is in the early stages of laying the groundwork for a possible new system of payment. Gilbert will represent small financial institutions on the committee, according to the release. The task force is scheduled to meet through 2016.

“There are some very established people from well-known companies on the secure payments steering committee,” Gilbert said. “It’s nice to be able to represent small institutions and community banks, and it’s something I’m looking forward to.”

Representatives from companies including Wal-Mart, Best Buy and MasterCard sit on the committee. If all goes according to plan, Gilbert said, a new payment system, one that could service even those without traditional bank accounts, could become a reality in the U.S. within the next several years.

This story was originally published July 27, 2015 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Federal Reserve elects Kansas man to payments steering committee."