Ian Spear is the Deputy Associate Director of Retail Payments in the Federal Reserve Board’s payments division. In his role, Ian helps advance the Federal Reserve’s public policy objectives related to the safety and efficiency the U.S. payment system. Ian has focused in particular on efforts to modernize U.S. retail payments infrastructure, including the Board’s revision of regulations to address electronic checks, the Federal Reserve’s implementation of same-day ACH, development of the FedNow Service, and the Federal Reserve’s efforts in mitigating and reducing payment system fraud. Prior to joining the Board, Ian was an attorney in private practice where he advised financial services companies. Ian received his J.D. from American University and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.