Payment Processing

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In this episode of Payments Pros, host Carlin McCrory is joined by Marissa Tartarini of Elliott Davis to explore how banks can build sustainable, scalable fintech partnerships in a shifting regulatory environment. They begin with the foundational risk questions banks should ask before choosing a partner — speed to market, in-house expertise and gaps, strategic fit, and risk appetite — then turn to practical legal and compliance considerations, including staffing, board oversight, and the need for tailored partnership agreements. Marissa and Carlin discuss the challenges of managing multiple fintech programs at once, maintaining up-to-date policies and marketing, and ensuring that growth does not outpace governance and BSA/AML controls. They highlight what separates successful programs from those that fail, lessons from terminated partnerships, and how to prepare for increasingly technical regulatory exams. Carlin and Marissa close the episode with a look at how regulators’ and banks’ views of fintech partnerships have evolved and what that means for the future of bank-fintech collaboration.

In a February 19 complaint filed in Arizona state court, Texas-based payment processer Switch Commerce LLC argued that multistate cannabis operator Trulieve Cannabis Corp. and its affiliates should be responsible for a $950,000 fine from Visa for their alleged fraudulent use of “cashless ATMs” — not Switch.

On October 17, 52 state and territorial attorneys general, in addition to state money transmission regulators, entered into settlements amounting to more than $20 million with ACI Worldwide (ACI), to resolve claims involving a money transmission error that led to the unauthorized withdrawal of $2.3 billion from Nationstar Mortgage (also known as Mr. Cooper) customers.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich released opinion No. 22-(R22-011), concluding earned wage access (EWA) products that are fully non-recourse and no-interest are not “consumer lender loans” under Arizona law. Thus, those who make, procure, or advertise EWA products are not required to be licensed as a “consumer lender” by Arizona’s Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions. The AG’s findings apply to EWA providers working with an employer as well as those working directly with an employee.

On March 8, the U.S. Federal Reserve Banks launched the FedNow Service Provider Showcase (Showcase) to show financial institutions and users the various services to assist them in implementing the FedNow Service (Service).

The FedNow Service is an instant payment service to provide all depository institutions in the United States with access to instant payment…

On March 15, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) released a consent agreement with Electronic Payment Systems and its owners John Dorsey and Thomas McCann (collectively, EPS) for allegedly opening credit card processing merchant accounts for fictitious companies on behalf of Money Now Funding (MNF).

The complaint filed against EPS alleges that it had…

On October 4, California passed a bill requiring a money transmitter to display a toll-free telephone number on its website through which a customer may contact the licensee for customer service issues and receive live customer assistance. The telephone number must be operative at least 10 hours per day, Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays.…

On September 9, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) released the Model Transmission Modernization Act (model law) in efforts to replace the 50 state-specific money transmitter laws with a nationwide standard. Unless the states adopt the model law, no change will occur to any existing state money transmission laws.

If enacted by the states,…