As part of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) declared effort to keep pace with a mounting demand for faster, cheaper, and more efficient payments, and the widespread adoption of new technologies, the agency’s Senior Deputy Comptroller & Chief Counsel issued an interpretive letter on January 4, 2021 (the “Interpretive Letter”) clarifying… Read More
Tag Archives: payments
Is Payroll Processing Money Transmission? New York May Be Weighing In
Posted in Electronic Payments, Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsIt seems like a natural progression for a company that provides any sort of payments-related information processing to migrate from handling data about payments to seeking to handle the payments themselves. But it can be a challenge for any company, particularly a younger one, to determine whether a payments-related service it wishes to offer —… Read More
Federal Reserve to Create Faster Payments System
Posted in Electronic Payments, Regulatory DevelopmentsOn August 5, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a notice and request for comment on its determination that the Federal Reserve Banks should develop a new interbank faster payments system. The Reserve Banks’ new system — the “FedNow” service — would have a targeted launch date in 2023 or 2024…. Read More
Take Two: Are You a Money Transmitter in Vermont?
Posted in Electronic Payments, Regulatory DevelopmentsLast year, we noted that the Banking Department of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation had taken the position that its money transmission law “does not exempt a payment processor or an agent of a payee from [money transmission] licensure.” Vermont’s Governor now has signed legislation that creates a statutory exemption from the money transmission… Read More
Could Strong Consumer Authentication Weaken Consumer Demand?
Posted in Electronic Payments, Regulatory DevelopmentsFrom 14 September 2019, certain electronic and remote payments must be subjected to two-factor, or “strong customer authentication”, under regulatory standards covering the European Economic Area relating to the second EU Payment Services Directive, which took effect in January 2018. Retailers are uncertain whether these new European anti-fraud measures will cause consumers to abandon online… Read More
Are You a Money Transmitter in Michigan? In California?
Posted in Regulatory DevelopmentsThe payments and money transmission regulatory landscape continues to evolve. A key new development is that Michigan has affirmed by legislation that “agent of a payee” transactions meeting certain criteria are not subject to regulation under the state’s money transmission licensing law. However, the California Department of Business Oversight (the “DBO”), which regulates money transmission… Read More
CFPB Encourages Financial Institutions to Provide Consumers with Greater Control over Payment Methods
Posted in CFPB, Credit Cards, Electronic PaymentsOn November 20, 2017, the CFPB released a November 17, 2017 letter that Director Richard Cordray sent to “the CEO’s of several banks, credit unions, and financial companies” asking that they consider “enabl[ing] consumers to exert greater control over their credit cards, debit cards, and other payment methods.” Read our client alert.
Faster Payments Task Force Sets Goals and Recommendations for Faster Payments by 2020
Posted in Electronic Payments, Mobile PaymentsOn July 21, 2017 the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payments Task Force released the Faster Payments Task Force Final Report Part Two. The Final Report is a follow-up to Part One of the Faster Payments Task Force Final Report, which was published in January 2017 and provided an overview of the Task Force’s objectives and a… Read More
Are You a “Payment Processor”? Washington State Appears to Significantly Expand Scope of Its Money Transmission Act
Posted in Regulatory Developments, State RegulatorsOne of the defining aspects of the payments revolution of the past few years—at least from a regulatory perspective—has been the question of whether any particular payments service is subject to regulation as money transmission. State money transmission laws were crafted to address what we would today call “traditional” money transmitters—i.e., major, well-known brands that… Read More