The Fed's system that allows banks to send money back and forth went down

The Federal Reserve's system that allows financial institutions to send money back and forth electronically went down for several hours Wednesday, but appeared to be coming back online later in the afternoon.

The "operational error," as the Fed described it, impacted multiple services, including its pivotal automated clearinghouse system, which connects depository and related institutions sending electronic credit and debt transfers.

The list of services impacted: Account Services, Central Bank, Check 21, Check Adjustments, FedACH, FedCash, FedLine Advantage, FedLine Command, FedLine Direct, FedLine Web, Fedwire Funds, Fedwire Securities and National Settlement.

The outage occurred the same week Fed Chairman Jerome Powell spoke to Capitol Hill legislators about the progress the central bank has made on its consumer-focused payments system and efforts to develop a "digital dollar."

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