Federal Reserve – A Generational Investment for the Future

At a time when ‘less cash’ is on the minds of many central banks and organisations operating in the cash industry, the Federal Reserve is making major investments in its cash operations, infrastructure and the currency itself.

Currency News™ spoke to Mark Gould, Chief Payments Executive for Federal Reserve Financial Services, to explore what is being done and why.

Q: Tell us about your background and role within the Federal Reserve.

A: I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of different things inside the Fed over the past 33 years, and I describe it as having multiple occupations within the span of one career. The Fed really encourages this kind of career development, and that combined with compelling work and an important mission, makes me feel fortunate to have discovered it early in my career.

I won’t list my resumé for you, but I will say that the bulk of my career has been focused on cash, payments, and technology, at both a local and national scale. I’m currently the Chief Payments Executive for the Federal Reserve overseeing our full portfolio of cash and payment services in Federal Reserve Financial Services (FRFS). Most recently before that I ran our national cash business, was Chief Operating Officer for the San Francisco Bank, and had a short stint as acting president during a gap between CEOs.