Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller says the central bank is conducting technical research into artificial intelligence (AI) as part of its effort to modernize the U.S. payments system.
Speaking at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, Waller describes a sweeping transformation across the industry.
“The payment system is experiencing what I have called a ‘technology-driven revolution,’ where the latest advances in computing power, data processing, and distributed networks have fueled growth in innovative new payment services.”
He says AI is emerging as a powerful enabler for both private and public sector payment services.
“Here, AI is not serving as payments infrastructure but as an enabling technology that could bring considerable benefits.”
Waller says the Fed is studying tokenization, smart contracts, and AI to understand how emerging technologies could improve existing platforms and support private firms that build on top of Fed-operated infrastructures.
“As a payment system operator, it is important to understand trends in payments technology so that we can continue to support private sector firms that leverage our infrastructures.”
He notes that payments have long been a proving ground for AI, with firms using machine learning since the 1990s to detect fraud and money laundering. More recently, innovators have turned to generative and large language models to strengthen compliance and reconciliation systems.
Looking ahead, Waller says the next wave of development will include autonomous agentic AI systems capable of planning and executing multistep processes, underscoring why the Fed needs to stay engaged with private-sector innovators.
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