What They Are Saying: Policymakers Acknowledge Growing Momentum Behind Modernizing Access to the U.S. Federal Payments Infrastructure
During a recent event hosted by Semafor in partnership with the Financial Technology Association, members of Congress, key figures in the Trump Administration, and a fintech CEO acknowledged growing bipartisan momentum behind modernizing the U.S. payment system.
Today’s comments come a month after the introduction of the Payments Access and Consumer Efficiency (PACE) Act and a day after the Trump Administration’s Executive Order expanding access to federal payments infrastructure.
What They Are Saying
Eleanor Mueller (Semafor) to Representative French Hill:
“It’s an FTA event. I’d be remiss not to ask you about the fintech executive order the president signed last night. There’s related legislation in your committee, Congresswoman Young Kim, that would expand fintech firms’ access to the Fed’s payment rails. Do you see a path for that this Congress?”
Representative French Hill (R-AR), Chairman, U.S. House Financial Services Committee
“I think we’re certainly going to do our due diligence and hearings on this. You also have to recognize the Federal Reserve has their own request for information on this process as well that Governor Chris Waller is leading for them, so that there’s some continuity of approach on payment licensing through the Fed that has a common theme to it as opposed to all 12 regional banks thinking they can do something different. That’s not a single policy.”
Nicholas Wu (Semafor) to Representative Steil:
“I want to ask a bit about some more recent news. President Trump signed an executive order yesterday, encouraging fintech access. Do you think it’s now time to advance legislation like the PACE Act?”
U.S. Representative Bryan Steil (R-WI):
“I think all of us are looking at the advancement in technology. The President’s executive order kind of puts a nice focus on this and says what can we do to improve the efficiency inside our broader payment space.”
“I think it’s something we want to study, that we want to get right. There’s a role in our system for banks and credit unions to play. We want to make sure that we have this system operating efficiently and effectively so that there’s opportunities for folks to go get home loans, etc., or loans in general, but also that we have the most efficient system and we’re not simply allowing guard rails to be put in place because there was an incumbent there before.”
Eleanor Mueller (Semafor) to Comptroller Gould:
“So as the Comptroller of the Currency, you oversee all of the national banks in the US, as well as obviously the US presences of foreign banks. From that perch, how are you thinking about yesterday’s executive order that seeks to expand access to the Fed’s payment systems for fintech firms?”
U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould:
“I think this is a kind of long-overdue reassessment. I think it’s terrific that under President Trump’s leadership, he’s giving us the push to move in that direction again.
“We at the OCC view the banking system as a bit of a walled garden, but of course you don’t want the walls to be too high or too impermeable to entrants because you run the risk of that walled garden over time decaying and becoming decrepit and not serving the U.S. economy, the markets, and the customers who depend upon it.”
“So, we need fresh entrants. We need that kind of constant refreshing of the system to ensure that long term it stays relevant and serves its function, which is again supporting the financial services needs of U.S. customers and local economies across this country.”
Penny Lee, FTA President and CEO, to Wise US President Harsh Sinha
“Yesterday we saw the White House put out an executive order asking to find ways for the different agencies to determine whether or not there’s impediments [to fintech access] and if so what is the remedy of that.”
“You’ve been tireless in this work as well. Tell us a little bit about what an EO from the president does, and also some of the legislation that Congress may be contemplating, like the PACE Act.”
Harsh Sinha, U.S. President and Chief Technology Officer, Wise:
“America’s innovating in a lot of places, especially AI, but if you look at payments, I think the U.S. has been very behind. And this is true for the last 10 to 15 years…If you look at the G7 countries right now, 6 of them have enabled access for non-banks and have instant payment rails. The U.S. is the only country now that doesn’t have this, so I’m very happy to see the executive order from the president. I think it is time, and I’m glad to see this conversation is moving.”
To learn more, visit: https://asapalliance.org/
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About ASAP
The Alliance for Secure and Accessible Payments is a coalition of digital payment companies, businesses, and advocacy organizations working to promote a more modern, competitive, and accessible payments system for American consumers and businesses.