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 real- 
time, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Payments Moderniza-
tion Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Families in the United States spend billions 
of dollars in overdraft fees in part because they are 
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waiting for checks to clear over a weekend or holi-
day. 
(2) The inefficient payment system in the 
United States drives families, especially those living 
paycheck to paycheck, to use high-cost financial 
services to access funds more rapidly. 
(3) A faster payment system would provide peo-
ple of the United States immediate access to funds 
and relief for those who overdraw their accounts be-
cause their deposits are not available in real-time, 
helping families potentially save billions of dollars 
each year. 
(4) The Board of Governors of the Federal Re-
serve System has created FedNow, an instant pay-
ment infrastructure that allows participants to send 
and receive funds in real time. 
(5) Financial services providers have a duty to 
make payments available as soon as it is reasonably 
possible. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to ensure that the United States has a safe, 
fast, efficient, equitable, and fair payment system; 
and 
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(2) to clarify that financial institutions shall 
prioritize efficient payments, except in cases in 
which fraudulent activity is suspected. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘real-time’’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 602 of the Expedited Funds 
Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4001), as amended by section 
4(a) of this Act. 
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT THAT FUNDS DEPOSITED BE AVAIL-
ABLE FOR WITHDRAWAL IN REAL-TIME. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 602 of the Expe-
dited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4001) is 
amended— 
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (20) 
through (25) as paragraphs (21) through (26), 
respectively; and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (19) the 
following: 
‘‘(20) REAL-TIME.—The term ‘real-time’— 
‘‘(A) means any time; and 
‘‘(B) includes a Saturday, Sunday, and a 
legal holiday.’’. 
(2) TECHNICAL
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENT.—Section 3 of the Check Clearing for the 
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21st Century Act (12 U.S.C. 5002(2)(D)(iv)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘section 602(24)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘section 602(25)’’. 
(b) EXPEDITED
FUNDS
AVAILABILITY
SCHED-
ULES.—Section 603 of the Expedited Funds Availability 
Act (12 U.S.C. 4002) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘NEXT BUSINESS DAY’’ and inserting ‘‘REAL- 
TIME’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
graph (A), by striking ‘‘Except as provided 
in subsection (e) and in section 604, in’’ 
and inserting ‘‘In’’; and 
(ii) in the matter following subpara-
graph (B) by striking ‘‘not later than the 
business day after the business day on 
which’’ and inserting ‘‘in real-time when’’; 
and 
(C) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre-
ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘not later 
than the business day after the business day on 
which’’ and inserting ‘‘in real-time after’’; 
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(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(b) PERMANENT SCHEDULE.—Funds deposited in 
an account at a depository institution by a check drawn 
on a local or nonlocal originating depository institution 
shall be available for withdrawal in real-time.’’; 
(3) by striking subsections (c) and (d); 
(4) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 
subsections (c) and (d), respectively; 
(5) in subsection (c), as redesignated by para-
graph (4)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in subparagraph (A)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘Not more than 4 
business days shall intervene between 
the business day a’’ and inserting 
‘‘A’’; 
(II) by inserting a comma after 
‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; 
(III) by striking ‘‘is’’; and 
(IV) by striking ‘‘and the busi-
ness day on which funds from such 
deposit are available for withdrawal’’ 
and inserting ‘‘shall be available for 
withdrawal in real-time’’; and 
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(ii) in subparagraph (B), in the sub-
paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘PARA-
GRAPH’’ and inserting ‘‘SUBPARAGRAPH’’; 
and 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘, (b), and (c)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘and (b)’’; and 
(ii) in the paragraph heading, by 
striking ‘‘TEMPORARY
AND
PERMANENT 
SCHEDULES’’ and inserting ‘‘PERMANENT 
SCHEDULE’’; and 
(6) in subsection (d)(2), as redesignated by 
paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(c), or (e)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘or (c)’’. 
(c) SAFEGUARD EXCEPTIONS.—Section 604 of the 
Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4003) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) in the paragraph heading by strik-
ing ‘‘NEXT BUSINESS DAY’’ and inserting 
‘‘REAL-TIME’’; and 
(ii) in the matter following subpara-
graph (D) by striking ‘‘on the business day 
after the business day on which such cash 
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or funds are deposited or, in the case of a 
wire transfer, on the business day after the 
business day on which’’ and inserting ‘‘in 
real-time after such cash or funds are de-
posited or, in the case of a wire transfer, 
in real-time after’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘, 603(c), or para-
graphs’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘603(e)’’ and inserting 
‘‘603(c)’’; and 
(C) by striking paragraph (3)(B) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(B) any such funds deposited in excess of 
such amount shall be available for withdrawal 
in real-time.’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(c), or (e)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘or (c)’’; 
(3) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘(c), and 
(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘and (c)’’; and 
(4) in subsection (d), in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(c), and (e)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘and (c)’’. 
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(d) MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.—Section 607 of 
the Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4006) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking subsections (a) and (b); and 
(2) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 
as subsections (a) through (d), respectively. 
(e) REGULATIONS AND REPORTS BY BOARD.—Sec-
tion 609 of the Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 
U.S.C. 4008) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(8), by striking ‘‘, pursuant 
to the study under subsection (f)’’; 
(2) by striking subsections (d) and (f); and 
(3) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub-
section (d). 
(f) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall publish a study on the impact 
of payment delays on disadvantaged communities, includ-
ing underbanked communities, and future access to and 
use of financial services by those communities. 
(g) FEDERAL RESERVE REPORT.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall submit 
to Congress a report on the progress of the FedNow in-
stant payment infrastructure, including— 
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(1) any obstacles encountered with respect to 
institutions opting to utilize FedNow or participants 
using FedNow; and 
(2) any challenges anticipated with respect to 
expanding the utilization of FedNow. 
Æ 
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