Welcome to the April 2026 Innovating Payments Executive Summary.
On the federal front, President Donald J. Trump announced the rollout of a national AI legislative framework to address the most pressing policy issues posed by the technology. Meanwhile, the latest draft of the CLARITY Act addresses concerns raised by financial institutions. Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is urging financial institutions to remain vigilant against fraud schemes targeting government healthcare benefit programs.
In other news, the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) announced the publication of a new white paper, Instant Recurring Payments: Unlocking Opportunities in High-Growth Vertical Markets. The document explores how instant recurring payments can address ongoing challenges in key sectors and support the growth of financial institutions and businesses.
Finally, don’t miss NEACH’s Fintech Integration Leadership Series, in partnership with Braid. Biweekly instructor-led webinars and on-demand access provide regulator-grade guidance and practical templates for real-world implementation.
Read on to learn more.
Top Headlines
President Donald J. Trump Unveils National AI Legislative Framework
On March 20, President Donald J. Trump announced the rollout of a national AI legislative framework in a news release, stating:
The Trump Administration is committed to winning the AI race to usher in a new era of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people. Achieving these goals requires a commonsense national policy framework that both enables American industry to innovate and thrive and ensures that all Americans benefit from this technological revolution.
The Administration recognizes that some Americans feel uncertain about how this transformative technology will affect issues they care about, like their children’s wellbeing or their monthly electricity bill. These issues, along with other emerging AI policy considerations, require strong Federal leadership to ensure the public’s trust in how AI is developed and used in their daily lives.
Today, the Trump Administration is demonstrating that leadership by issuing a comprehensive national legislative framework that addresses the most pressing policy topics that AI presents.
The framework goes on to address the following six key objectives:
- Protecting children and empowering parents
- Strengthening and safeguarding American communities
- Respecting intellectual property rights and supporting creators
- Preventing censorship and preserving free speech
- Enabling innovation and ensuring American AI dominance
- Educating Americans and enabling an AI-ready workforce
To learn more about the framework and how it proposes to meet these goals, click here.
CLARITY Act Update
In other news at the federal level, FinTech Weekly reported that crypto industry leaders and bank representatives once again met in secret with Capitol Hill officials to break the deadlock on the legislation. As the outlet reported previously, the issue is whether stablecoins should earn passive yield, a move that financial institutions oppose.
According to the publication, “The latest CLARITY Act stablecoin yield draft bans passive yield — exactly what banks demanded from the start,”
It goes on to say: The latest draft text of the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, reviewed by crypto industry leaders on Monday and bank representatives on Tuesday in closed-door Capitol Hill sessions, prohibits offering yield directly or indirectly on stablecoin balances. It bans anything economically or functionally equivalent to bank interest.
According to the publication, the current draft of the bill aligns more closely with the American Bankers Association’s preferences than those of crypto firms like Coinbase. If banks continue to succeed, crypto companies might gain regulatory clarity but could lose stablecoins as a competitive edge, reflecting the direction of the latest version of the bill.
PYMNTS Intelligence Stablecoin Data
As legislative drafts favoring financial institutions continue to evolve, the real-world adoption of stablecoins by businesses also depends on traditional frameworks. New data released by PYMNTS Intelligence reveals that approximately one in eight (12%) middle market companies access stablecoins via bank-integrated solutions, while 8% utilize payments or treasury fintech platforms, and only 5% rely on self-custody wallets. These figures indicate that even when exploring new financial technologies, firms gravitate toward established channels that offer greater oversight and reduced operational complexity.
The same report revealed that although stablecoins are garnering attention from the C-suite, attention and adoption are two very different things, with regulatory uncertainty cited as the biggest obstacle to the adoption of crypto and stablecoins. In fact, more than three in four CFOs (67%) cite regulatory or compliance uncertainty as a barrier for stablecoin adoption. The next issues are practical: 43% cite concerns around integration with existing financial systems and whether these tools fit inside financial workflows.
NEACH will continue to provide updates on stablecoin legislation and data as it becomes available.
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson Issues Warning Letters to Payment Providers and Platforms CEOs
Meanwhile, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson sent letters to four major financial infrastructure platforms and payment providers, reminding them of their obligations to their customers under the FTC Act, according to an FTC news release.
The letters sent to the CEOs of PayPal, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard raise concerns about publicly reported instances of financial services companies denying customers access to services based on their political or religious beliefs.
“Full participation in commerce and public life necessarily requires that law-abiding individuals can access and freely participate in our financial system,” Chairman Ferguson wrote, as quoted in the release.
“It is inconsistent with American values to deny law-abiding individuals the ability to run their legitimate businesses and feed their families because they attracted the ire of rogue American officials, overzealous activists, or, more worryingly, foreign governments seeking to control public discourse,” he continued. “That is why President Trump’s August 7, 2025, Executive Order on debanking makes clear that it is unacceptable to debank law-abiding citizens due to ‘political affiliations, religious beliefs, or lawful business activities.’”
In recent years, the FTC has brought numerous enforcement actions against payment infrastructure platforms and related entities for unfair or deceptive practices, including misleading merchants about fees and contract terms and facilitating consumer fraud, including through card networks.
You can view all FTC warning letters at ftc.gov/warning-letters.
Treasury Targets Fraud Schemes Exploiting Government Health Care Benefits
Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory urging financial institutions to remain vigilant against fraud schemes targeting government health care benefit programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, according to a news release. This follows Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent’s trip to Minnesota earlier this year, where he announced numerous steps the Treasury is implementing to detect and stop government benefits fraud nationwide. Separately, FinCEN issued a proposed rule paving the way to pay whistleblowers for actionable tips, further protecting the U.S. financial system from illicit activity.
“President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being used to commit fraud,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in the release. “Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury will continue to find and disrupt fraud schemes wherever they exist, and we will work with our law enforcement partners to hold perpetrators to account.”
FinCEN’s Advisory provides financial institutions with an overview of how fraudsters, organized crime groups, and, increasingly, transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) target government health care benefit programs. It also points out money-laundering typologies and red-flag indicators to assist financial institutions in spotting and reporting suspicious activity. Today’s Advisory strongly urges financial institutions to voluntarily report suspicious activity to FinCEN and to immediately notify law enforcement.
For more information and to read this release in its entirety, click here.
U.S. Faster Payments Council Issues New White Paper on Instant Recurring Payments
In other news, the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) announced the release of a new white paper, Instant Recurring Payments: Unlocking Opportunities in High-Growth Vertical Markets, developed by the FPC Instant Recurring Payments Work Group. The paper examines how instant recurring payments can solve persistent issues in key sectors and help financial institutions and businesses grow.
“Many high-growth verticals rely on batch-based systems that could benefit from the functionality provided by instant recurring payments,” Andrew Gómez, Senior Advisor at Paylume and Vice Chair of the Instant Recurring Payments Work Group, said in the release. “This paper highlights how instant payment rails, paired with thoughtful implementation strategies and strong risk controls, can unlock meaningful operational and strategic value across industries.”
The report identifies five high-potential vertical markets: insurance, subscription services, utilities and telecommunications, investment management, and property management. It shows how instant recurring payments can reduce payment failures, enhance cash flow visibility, streamline reconciliation processes, and improve the customer experience. It also examines key factors like fraud management, regulatory compliance, technology updates, and customer adoption strategies.
Besides presenting the business case for adoption, the white paper explores key challenges, including effective fraud prevention in a final payment environment, maintaining 24/7 operational readiness, managing system integration costs, and creating transparent dispute resolution processes. It also provides strategic advice for financial institutions, businesses, and customers, encouraging a phased and sustainable approach to implementing instant recurring payments.
The white paper is available for download from the FPC's Faster Payments Knowledge Center.
NEACH
As the industry continues to evolve, NEACH remains your strategic partner as we navigate this dynamic landscape together. To that end, we are working on several exciting projects to better support you in this rapidly changing environment. One new offering we believe you will find helpful is our FinTech Integration Leadership Series, in partnership with Braid.
Building upon these initiatives, it’s clear that adapting to the fast-moving trends and emerging technologies is essential. Given the rapid pace of change and the technological advances discussed in this month’s executive summary and previous news stories, many financial institutions are collaborating with fintech companies to drive growth and innovation. We want to show you how.
If this sounds like something that interests you, please click here to learn more about this opportunity.
Additionally, as we continue to seek new ways to support you during this period of rapid change, we invite you to shareany specific needs or challenges you have so we can help you address them. We remain committed to supporting you and equipping you for success, both now and in the future.
Welcome to the April 2026 Innovating Payments Executive Summary.
On the federal front, President Donald J. Trump announced the rollout of a national AI legislative framework to address the most pressing policy issues posed by the technology. Meanwhile, the latest draft of the CLARITY Act addresses concerns raised by financial institutions. Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is urging financial institutions to remain vigilant against fraud schemes targeting government healthcare benefit programs.
In other news, the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) announced the publication of a new white paper, Instant Recurring Payments: Unlocking Opportunities in High-Growth Vertical Markets. The document explores how instant recurring payments can address ongoing challenges in key sectors and support the growth of financial institutions and businesses.
Finally, don’t miss NEACH’s Fintech Integration Leadership Series, in partnership with Braid. Biweekly instructor-led webinars and on-demand access provide regulator-grade guidance and practical templates for real-world implementation.
Read on to learn more.
Top Headlines
President Donald J. Trump Unveils National AI Legislative Framework
On March 20, President Donald J. Trump announced the rollout of a national AI legislative framework in a news release, stating:
The Trump Administration is committed to winning the AI race to usher in a new era of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people. Achieving these goals requires a commonsense national policy framework that both enables American industry to innovate and thrive and ensures that all Americans benefit from this technological revolution.
The Administration recognizes that some Americans feel uncertain about how this transformative technology will affect issues they care about, like their children’s wellbeing or their monthly electricity bill. These issues, along with other emerging AI policy considerations, require strong Federal leadership to ensure the public’s trust in how AI is developed and used in their daily lives.
Today, the Trump Administration is demonstrating that leadership by issuing a comprehensive national legislative framework that addresses the most pressing policy topics that AI presents.
The framework goes on to address the following six key objectives:
- Protecting children and empowering parents
- Strengthening and safeguarding American communities
- Respecting intellectual property rights and supporting creators
- Preventing censorship and preserving free speech
- Enabling innovation and ensuring American AI dominance
- Educating Americans and enabling an AI-ready workforce
To learn more about the framework and how it proposes to meet these goals, click here.
CLARITY Act Update
In other news at the federal level, FinTech Weekly reported that crypto industry leaders and bank representatives once again met in secret with Capitol Hill officials to break the deadlock on the legislation. As the outlet reported previously, the issue is whether stablecoins should earn passive yield, a move that financial institutions oppose.
According to the publication, “The latest CLARITY Act stablecoin yield draft bans passive yield — exactly what banks demanded from the start,”
It goes on to say: The latest draft text of the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, reviewed by crypto industry leaders on Monday and bank representatives on Tuesday in closed-door Capitol Hill sessions, prohibits offering yield directly or indirectly on stablecoin balances. It bans anything economically or functionally equivalent to bank interest.
According to the publication, the current draft of the bill aligns more closely with the American Bankers Association’s preferences than those of crypto firms like Coinbase. If banks continue to succeed, crypto companies might gain regulatory clarity but could lose stablecoins as a competitive edge, reflecting the direction of the latest version of the bill.
PYMNTS Intelligence Stablecoin Data
As legislative drafts favoring financial institutions continue to evolve, the real-world adoption of stablecoins by businesses also depends on traditional frameworks. New data released by PYMNTS Intelligence reveals that approximately one in eight (12%) middle market companies access stablecoins via bank-integrated solutions, while 8% utilize payments or treasury fintech platforms, and only 5% rely on self-custody wallets. These figures indicate that even when exploring new financial technologies, firms gravitate toward established channels that offer greater oversight and reduced operational complexity.
The same report revealed that although stablecoins are garnering attention from the C-suite, attention and adoption are two very different things, with regulatory uncertainty cited as the biggest obstacle to the adoption of crypto and stablecoins. In fact, more than three in four CFOs (67%) cite regulatory or compliance uncertainty as a barrier for stablecoin adoption. The next issues are practical: 43% cite concerns around integration with existing financial systems and whether these tools fit inside financial workflows.
NEACH will continue to provide updates on stablecoin legislation and data as it becomes available.
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson Issues Warning Letters to Payment Providers and Platforms CEOs
Meanwhile, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson sent letters to four major financial infrastructure platforms and payment providers, reminding them of their obligations to their customers under the FTC Act, according to an FTC news release.
The letters sent to the CEOs of PayPal, Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard raise concerns about publicly reported instances of financial services companies denying customers access to services based on their political or religious beliefs.
“Full participation in commerce and public life necessarily requires that law-abiding individuals can access and freely participate in our financial system,” Chairman Ferguson wrote, as quoted in the release.
“It is inconsistent with American values to deny law-abiding individuals the ability to run their legitimate businesses and feed their families because they attracted the ire of rogue American officials, overzealous activists, or, more worryingly, foreign governments seeking to control public discourse,” he continued. “That is why President Trump’s August 7, 2025, Executive Order on debanking makes clear that it is unacceptable to debank law-abiding citizens due to ‘political affiliations, religious beliefs, or lawful business activities.’”
In recent years, the FTC has brought numerous enforcement actions against payment infrastructure platforms and related entities for unfair or deceptive practices, including misleading merchants about fees and contract terms and facilitating consumer fraud, including through card networks.
You can view all FTC warning letters at ftc.gov/warning-letters.
Treasury Targets Fraud Schemes Exploiting Government Health Care Benefits
Additionally, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory urging financial institutions to remain vigilant against fraud schemes targeting government health care benefit programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, according to a news release. This follows Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent’s trip to Minnesota earlier this year, where he announced numerous steps the Treasury is implementing to detect and stop government benefits fraud nationwide. Separately, FinCEN issued a proposed rule paving the way to pay whistleblowers for actionable tips, further protecting the U.S. financial system from illicit activity.
“President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being used to commit fraud,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in the release. “Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury will continue to find and disrupt fraud schemes wherever they exist, and we will work with our law enforcement partners to hold perpetrators to account.”
FinCEN’s Advisory provides financial institutions with an overview of how fraudsters, organized crime groups, and, increasingly, transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) target government health care benefit programs. It also points out money-laundering typologies and red-flag indicators to assist financial institutions in spotting and reporting suspicious activity. Today’s Advisory strongly urges financial institutions to voluntarily report suspicious activity to FinCEN and to immediately notify law enforcement.
For more information and to read this release in its entirety, click here.
U.S. Faster Payments Council Issues New White Paper on Instant Recurring Payments
In other news, the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) announced the release of a new white paper, Instant Recurring Payments: Unlocking Opportunities in High-Growth Vertical Markets, developed by the FPC Instant Recurring Payments Work Group. The paper examines how instant recurring payments can solve persistent issues in key sectors and help financial institutions and businesses grow.
“Many high-growth verticals rely on batch-based systems that could benefit from the functionality provided by instant recurring payments,” Andrew Gómez, Senior Advisor at Paylume and Vice Chair of the Instant Recurring Payments Work Group, said in the release. “This paper highlights how instant payment rails, paired with thoughtful implementation strategies and strong risk controls, can unlock meaningful operational and strategic value across industries.”
The report identifies five high-potential vertical markets: insurance, subscription services, utilities and telecommunications, investment management, and property management. It shows how instant recurring payments can reduce payment failures, enhance cash flow visibility, streamline reconciliation processes, and improve the customer experience. It also examines key factors like fraud management, regulatory compliance, technology updates, and customer adoption strategies.
Besides presenting the business case for adoption, the white paper explores key challenges, including effective fraud prevention in a final payment environment, maintaining 24/7 operational readiness, managing system integration costs, and creating transparent dispute resolution processes. It also provides strategic advice for financial institutions, businesses, and customers, encouraging a phased and sustainable approach to implementing instant recurring payments.
The white paper is available for download from the FPC's Faster Payments Knowledge Center.
NEACH
As the industry continues to evolve, NEACH remains your strategic partner as we navigate this dynamic landscape together. To that end, we are working on several exciting projects to better support you in this rapidly changing environment. One new offering we believe you will find helpful is our FinTech Integration Leadership Series, in partnership with Braid.
Building upon these initiatives, it’s clear that adapting to the fast-moving trends and emerging technologies is essential. Given the rapid pace of change and the technological advances discussed in this month’s executive summary and previous news stories, many financial institutions are collaborating with fintech companies to drive growth and innovation. We want to show you how.
If this sounds like something that interests you, please click here to learn more about this opportunity.
Additionally, as we continue to seek new ways to support you during this period of rapid change, we invite you to shareany specific needs or challenges you have so we can help you address them. We remain committed to supporting you and equipping you for success, both now and in the future.
NEACH - New England Automated Clearing House Association is a neutral, member-focused advocate. Our role is to give you the intelligence, context, and connections you need to make informed strategic decisions. We bring together industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators so you can evaluate innovation through the lens of your institution’s mission and market strategy. For more information, visit neach.org.