The Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS), an organization within the US Treasury Department, previously unknown to most Americans and others who do not interact with it, became famous over the weekend. Why? On February 2, 2025, news broke thatElon Musk, CEO of X, Tesla, etc and head of an organization called DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) has taken operational control of the US Treasury Department’s payment system. (DOGE is not a federal agency. Rather it is part of the organization formerly known as the United States Digital Service, which is a technology group within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It’s mandate is to provide consultation services to federal agencies on information technology.)
The Treasury payment system connects to other Federal, state and local agencies, businesses, non-profits, government contractors, Federal civil service employees and, of course, American citizens. It’s responsible for 90% of the payments made by the US Federal government — specifically 1.4 billion payments valued at 5 trillion dollars. Nathan Tankus is one of the best authorities on the workings of monetary policy and central banking.
The Treasury payment system makes payments to people, non-profit agencies, businesses, contractors, Federal employees and more that go through banks, credit unions and community banks and the Federal Reserve.
As I read the news, I became very concerned about the implications would be for banks, bankers and their customers. So, I brought together experts - Theodora Lau, Richard Stiennon, Dion Lisle and Alex Jimenez to talk about our concerns, the risks and vulnerabilities to the banking system, customers, data and security - and what bankers should be doing now.
Note: This discussion is a snapshot in time.
Resources
The takeover is clearly not a static event. I’ve provided a few resources (which may be out-of-date by the time you read this)
Law suit filed against the Treasury Department, etc.
Crisis Notes by Nathan Tankus
A Twenty-five Year Old with Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System
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