Congress should examine EWA bill

Carl Morris is the vice president of compliance at earned wage access provider FlexWage Solutions. He is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

With federal legislation in Congress being named the Earned Wage Access Consumer Protection Act, one would expect it to closely mirror an existing opinion from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. However, that is not the case.

Below is a comparison of the CFPB opinion, issued December 22, 2025, and proposed House bill H.R. 9330, contrasting four key characteristics of each.

The CFPB opinion said the actual earned wage amount must be based on verified payroll data. Providers cannot rely on worker representations, estimates or predictions. Meanwhile, H.R. 9330 allows providers to use "reasonably determined" amounts, opening the door for estimations, predictions, algorithms and gross wage approximations.

The CFPB opinion also requires recoupment through direct payroll process deduction, rather than transfers from a consumer’s personal transaction account. That's in contrast to H.R. 9330, which defines no specific recoupment process, requiring only that the timing and amount match what was disclosed to the consumer.

For overpayment remedies, the CFPB opinion strictly specifies no recourse. That means earned wage access (EWA) providers have no claim against the worker if payroll deductions are insufficient, including no right to debit personal bank accounts. H.R. 9330 takes a different tack, placing no limits on how many times a provider may attempt account debits to collect overpayments. It only prohibits formal debt collection methods, late fees, and interest.

With respect to risk assessment, the CFPB opinion explicitly prohibits directly, or indirectly, assessing the credit risk of individual workers. But H.R. 9330 does not prohibit risk assessments and implicitly permits providers to evaluate employee risk and wage ratios to set advance limits (Section 2(a)(2)(A)(i)(III)).

There are additional concerns, beyond those key differences, specifically on state law preemption. The proposed bill includes a clause that supersedes state legislation classifying EWA as a loan. This would override established state-level labor, lending and usury protections. This is ironic at a time when there are eleven public actions being taken against EWA providers.

On the issue of ineffective free options, while the bill mandates one "free" EWA option, it does not specify the delivery method for that payment. Providers can offer slow ACH transfers (1–3 days) or mandate the use of proprietary cards, offering options that most employees do not want.

Data from the Center for Responsible Lending shows that 96% of all direct-to-consumer transfers include some type of fee. EWA was designed to be an employer-sponsored benefit built on accurate payroll data, direct payroll deduction, non-recourse terms, and no credit risk assessments.

Combining employer-integrated solutions and direct-to-consumer products under a single, relaxed standard weakens consumer safety.

Congress members need to be aware of these critical differences to pass meaningful legislation that truly protects consumers.