New House Caucus Will Explore, Support Emerging Payments (March 24, 2015)
A quartet of congressmen has formed a group to explore and support emerging payment technologies. The Congressional Payments Technology Caucus (CPTC) will be comprised of four members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Republicans Randy Neugebauer (Texas) and Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.) along with Democrats David Scott (Ga.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.)—all of whom also serve on the House Financial Services Committee.
The CPTC’s mission is to “explore the new and innovative technologies in the payments industry, as well as answer questions about data security, unbanked users’ access to electronic payments and more,” according to an announcement. The caucus will take a leadership role in keeping the full Congress up to date on industry developments, while also serving as a forum for discussing proposed payments legislation and a source of information.
“As a member of the Financial Services Committee, I have learned that the payments industry is a large, diverse industry that touches every segment of our financial economy,” Rep. Scott said in the statement. “Yet, many of our colleagues in Congress are not as aware of the many challenges … facing the payments sector. The new caucus will increase the awareness of the industry and help address major issues such as security and consumer protections.”
The CPTC already has earned the backing of one major payments industry group. The Electronic Transactions Association, which has more than 500 U.S. payments technology companies among its members, expressed support for the caucus, calling the CPTC “important for the payments industry, American consumers and our economy.”
The 114th Congress has made payments a priority since being seated in January. The House Financial Services Committee’s Oversight Plan for the 2015-2016 term features several payments-related initiatives, including expanding access to financial services among the underbanked and supporting mobile payment innovations. Several regulatory matters also are on the agenda, including continued oversight of the CFPB, Operation Choke Point and FinCEN.
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