Atlanta Fed taps payments head for operations chief

Dive Brief:

The Federal Bank Bank of Atlanta named Cheryl Venable as its new chief operating officer and first vice president, effective Aug. 1, according to a Thursday press release from the bank. She had already been serving in a role as Atlanta Fed executive vice president.
Venable will leave her role as chief of payments operations for the Federal Reserve Financial Services, an Atlanta spokesperson confirmed. A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve Financial Services division declined to comment on who will succeed her in that role.
For Venable, who has been with the Atlanta Fed for the past 14 years, the appointment is a promotion that followed a five-month internal and external search, with assistance from an executive search firm, the release said.

Dive Insight:

Venable has spent her whole career in the Federal Reserve System, according to the release, and the past 14 years at the Atlanta Fed, according to her LinkedIn profile.

As head of payments operations she played a significant role in the Fed’s launch last year of the instant payments system called FedNow, which was the first new payments system in the U.S. in 40 years. Her team also has had responsibility for the FedACH, Fedwire Funds, Fedwire Securities, and the National Settlement Service.

In another noteworthy change under her watch, the Fed this year proposed to expand the operating hours of Fedwire and the NSS to include holidays and weekends. The Fed is currently receiving public feedback on that proposal and recently extended the period during which comments can be submitted.

In her new role, Venable will oversee the Atlanta Fed bank’s day-to-day operations and also hold the post of vice chair of the Sixth District's executive leadership committee, the release said.

"I look forward to partnering with Cheryl to advance the Bank's strategic initiatives, continue to drive our strong commitment to excellence, and work to ensure an economy that works for everyone,” Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said in the release.

Venable is a Missouri native whose Fed career began as a management trainee at the St. Louis Fed in 1991. She later made her way to the Minneapolis Fed in 1996, taking on increasing roles of responsibility along the way until landing at the Atlanta Fed in 2010. She joined the Atlanta Fed as as chief information officer for the retail payments office, and later become the retail payments product manager, overseeing a transition of the retail payments office into Federal Reserve Financial Services, the release said.