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As we enter 2025, America will welcome the 119th Congress and the swearing in of
As they begin to stock their economic tool kit, I respectfully urge members of Congress and the administration to consider using currently available yet underutilized tools to help improve the day-to-day financial lives of all Americans.
Fortunately for our nation’s leadership, an entire financial ecosystem has already made investments in technology and identified areas of potential consumer benefit. However, the payments community has been waiting for the green light to wholeheartedly share a full range of products designed to help improve the financial standing of millions of Americans.
Unfortunately, financial technology companies have been mostly on the sidelines in recent years due to well-meaning but haphazard attempts to develop a consistent and thoughtful regulatory road map for fintech companies to follow. The lack of an intentional national coordinated vision for financial services between stakeholders — Congress, regulators and the payments community — has led to conflicting rules, regulation by enforcement, and the reduction of the number and quality of financial products.
Products such as earned wage access, fintech debit accounts, mobile wallets, etc., which once received bipartisan support, have seen the rules regulating them contradict prior agency statements, be weirdly interpreted, or potentially be
Decision-makers always call for more competition in the financial marketplace; however, their actions seem to contradict that stated goal. What reasonable person or company would make a substantial investment or create a startup if the rules pendulum swings back and forth every four years or the regulatory interpretations or punishments are left to a handful of people who proudly state that they have never worked in the industry they are seeking to regulate?
I am sorry, but policy in any space, particularly an industry such as banking that touches the lives of every American, should not be left to points of view, but should be driven by facts.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Another contradiction arises from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While the agency has expressed concerns about the safety of fintech products, urging consumers to approach them with caution, it has recently finalized a rule requiring financial institutions to share data with these same fintechs.
You will have to forgive me if I don’t grasp the overarching policy. It appears to be that innovation in banking is only helpful when it can be used to advance a political agenda. Now that the elections are over, I am calling for all stakeholders to take off their political hats, research empirical facts, and set clear, reasonable policies that can be understood by the payments community so we can do what we do best, help Americans manage their finances, save money, pay for goods and reach their financial goals.
Lastly, don’t believe the hype; the payments industry has always been in the business of consumer protection. Let me be clear: Yes, industry mistakes occur, but they are outliers and not the norm. The payments community supports reasonable regulation that protects the rights of consumers but also permits the application of continued technological advances to give consumers more control over their personal finances.
I am hopeful the time of stakeholders talking past each other has come to an end. The payments community is ready, willing and waiting to play a supporting role in jump-starting our nation’s economy. Now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity to come together and unleash the promise of financial technology to help every American maximize their financial lives and help their families reach their American dream.