I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5039 

To amend the Expedited Funds Availability Act to require that funds 

deposited be available for withdrawal in real-time, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself and Mr. LYNCH) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Expedited Funds Availability Act to require 

that funds deposited be available for withdrawal in realtime, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Payments Moderniza5 tion Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Families in the United States spend billions 

9 of dollars in overdraft fees in part because they are 


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1 waiting for checks to clear over a weekend or holi2 day. 

3 (2) The inefficient payment system in the 

4 United States drives families, especially those living 

5 paycheck to paycheck, to use high-cost financial 

6 services to access funds more rapidly. 

7 (3) A faster payment system would provide peo8 ple of the United States immediate access to funds 

9 and relief for those who overdraw their accounts be10 cause their deposits are not available in real-time, 

11 helping families potentially save billions of dollars 

12 each year. 

13 (4) The Board of Governors of the Federal Re14 serve System has created FedNow, an instant pay15 ment infrastructure that allows participants to send 

16 and receive funds in real time. 

17 (5) Financial services providers have a duty to 

18 make payments available as soon as it is reasonably 

19 possible. 

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

21 (1) to ensure that the United States has a safe, 

22 fast, efficient, equitable, and fair payment system; 

23 and 


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1 (2) to clarify that financial institutions shall 

2 prioritize efficient payments, except in cases in 

3 which fraudulent activity is suspected. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 

5 In this Act, the term ‘‘real-time’’ has the meaning 

6 given the term in section 602 of the Expedited Funds 

7 Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4001), as amended by section 

8 4(a) of this Act. 

9 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT THAT FUNDS DEPOSITED BE AVAIL10 ABLE FOR WITHDRAWAL IN REAL-TIME. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 602 of the Expe13 dited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4001) is 

14 amended— 

15 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (20) 

16 through (25) as paragraphs (21) through (26), 

17 respectively; and 

18 (B) by inserting after paragraph (19) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(20) REAL-TIME.—The term ‘real-time’— 

21 ‘‘(A) means any time; and 

22 ‘‘(B) includes a Saturday, Sunday, and a 

23 legal holiday.’’. 

24 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND25 MENT.—Section 3 of the Check Clearing for the 


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1 21st Century Act (12 U.S.C. 5002(2)(D)(iv)) is 

2 amended by striking ‘‘section 602(24)’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘section 602(25)’’. 

4 (b) EXPEDITED FUNDS AVAILABILITY SCHED5 ULES.—Section 603 of the Expedited Funds Availability 

6 Act (12 U.S.C. 4002) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

9 ‘‘NEXT BUSINESS DAY’’ and inserting ‘‘REAL10 TIME’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (i) in the matter preceding subpara13 graph (A), by striking ‘‘Except as provided 

14 in subsection (e) and in section 604, in’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘In’’; and 

16 (ii) in the matter following subpara17 graph (B) by striking ‘‘not later than the 

18 business day after the business day on 

19 which’’ and inserting ‘‘in real-time when’’; 

20 and 

21 (C) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre22 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘not later 

23 than the business day after the business day on 

24 which’’ and inserting ‘‘in real-time after’’; 


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1 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(b) PERMANENT SCHEDULE.—Funds deposited in 

4 an account at a depository institution by a check drawn 

5 on a local or nonlocal originating depository institution 

6 shall be available for withdrawal in real-time.’’; 

7 (3) by striking subsections (c) and (d); 

8 (4) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

9 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; 

10 (5) in subsection (c), as redesignated by para11 graph (4)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘Not more than 4 

15 business days shall intervene between 

16 the business day a’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘A’’; 

18 (II) by inserting a comma after 

19 ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; 

20 (III) by striking ‘‘is’’; and 

21 (IV) by striking ‘‘and the busi22 ness day on which funds from such 

23 deposit are available for withdrawal’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘shall be available for 

25 withdrawal in real-time’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (B), in the sub2 paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘PARA3 GRAPH’’ and inserting ‘‘SUBPARAGRAPH’’; 

4 and 

5 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘, (b), and (c)’’ and in7 serting ‘‘and (b)’’; and 

8 (ii) in the paragraph heading, by 

9 striking ‘‘TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT

10 SCHEDULES’’ and inserting ‘‘PERMANENT

11 SCHEDULE’’; and 

12 (6) in subsection (d)(2), as redesignated by 

13 paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(c), or (e)’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘or (c)’’. 

15 (c) SAFEGUARD EXCEPTIONS.—Section 604 of the 

16 Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4003) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (i) in the paragraph heading by strik21 ing ‘‘NEXT BUSINESS DAY’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘REAL-TIME’’; and 

23 (ii) in the matter following subpara24 graph (D) by striking ‘‘on the business day 

25 after the business day on which such cash 


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1 or funds are deposited or, in the case of a 

2 wire transfer, on the business day after the 

3 business day on which’’ and inserting ‘‘in 

4 real-time after such cash or funds are de5 posited or, in the case of a wire transfer, 

6 in real-time after’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘, 603(c), or para9 graphs’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘603(e)’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘603(c)’’; and 

12 (C) by striking paragraph (3)(B) and in13 serting the following: 

14 ‘‘(B) any such funds deposited in excess of 

15 such amount shall be available for withdrawal 

16 in real-time.’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

18 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(c), or (e)’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘or (c)’’; 

20 (3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘(c), and 

21 (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘and (c)’’; and 

22 (4) in subsection (d), in the matter preceding 

23 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(c), and (e)’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘and (c)’’. 


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1 (d) MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.—Section 607 of 

2 the Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4006) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b); and 

5 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 

6 as subsections (a) through (d), respectively. 

7 (e) REGULATIONS AND REPORTS BY BOARD.—Sec8 tion 609 of the Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 

9 U.S.C. 4008) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)(8), by striking ‘‘, pursuant 

11 to the study under subsection (f)’’; 

12 (2) by striking subsections (d) and (f); and 

13 (3) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub14 section (d). 

15 (f) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 90 days after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

17 of the United States shall publish a study on the impact 

18 of payment delays on disadvantaged communities, includ19 ing underbanked communities, and future access to and 

20 use of financial services by those communities. 

21 (g) FEDERAL RESERVE REPORT.—Not later than 90 

22 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board 

23 of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall submit 

24 to Congress a report on the progress of the FedNow in25 stant payment infrastructure, including— 


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1 (1) any obstacles encountered with respect to 

2 institutions opting to utilize FedNow or participants 

3 using FedNow; and 

4 (2) any challenges anticipated with respect to 

5 expanding the utilization of FedNow. 

Æ 


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