The 119th Congress has now been seated, and is poised to consider, to take up — or to scuttle — financial services legislation that may touch on everything from credit cards to earned wage access (EWA) to digital assets.

The incoming majorities belong to the Republicans, of course, and it’s no secret that president-elect Trump and other members of his party have expressed misgivings about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the roles and scope of those agencies are as yet undetermined.

The House Financial Services Committee now is being chaired by Rep. French Hill, R-Ark. The Senate Banking Committee is being chaired by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. 

What May Be Up

As for what may still be considered “outstanding”:

Front and center will be what happens with the Credit Card Competition Act. It’s been a long road for the CCCA, which, among other things, would enable card payments to be routed over at least one network that competes with Mastercard and Visa. Since being introduced in 2023, the act has been stalled in Congress, and should it be taken up again, there’s no surety that it would make it through into law, but it may indeed come up for debate. Now vice president-elect JD Vance had signed on to the bill.  

At issue will be the ways in which the bill would change the dynamics of the card industry. Supporters say that the routing provisions would open up competition. But as Karen Webster noted in a recent column, “Notwithstanding a lack of understanding of how dual routing would work for credit card transactions, the flaw in Sen. Durbin’s bill is a lack of understanding of how the current credit card ecosystem works. And, more fundamentally, how platform ecosystems ignite and scale — and are monetized.”

Separately, the Earned Wage Access Consumer Protection Act would define EWA providers and sets strict operational boundaries, specifically regulating both employee-sponsored programs and direct-to-consumer offerings.

Digital Assets

There have been various attempts to have legislation that would set frameworks for digital asset markets to be structured. One bill, the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act passed in the House but did not make it through the Senate. The act would, among other things, set standards for digital assets and consumer protections, and segregation of funds.

Crypto and artificial intelligence (AI), of course, will also be on the agenda.

In an interview with PYMNTS, Mike Katz, a partner in Manatt, Phelps and Phillips Financial Services Group, said that “despite the razor-thin Republican majorities, there is a growing bipartisan consensus in Congress around the need for thoughtful, innovation-focused crypto and AI legislation,” adding, “It will be interesting to see if any digital asset bills are part of the tax-and-border-focused reconciliation package already being discussed in Congress. I’d expect a strong stablecoin bill to move quickly given existing bipartisan support.”

And he added: “Keep an eye out early in 2025 for a repurposed or chopped up version of the pro-crypto bill FIT21 [which passed the House with a large bipartisan majority in May]. Regardless of form or timing, new legislation will finally provide clarity on the questions of whether crypto assets are ‘securities’ or ‘commodities’ … and on which regulatory authority is charged with oversight.”

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Only one in four young adults say they received any financial education at school, according to new research, highlighting the scale of the UK’s challenge to ensure children are taught how money works.

The survey of 18 to 21-year-olds found that only 26 per cent of participants said they had received any financial education at school last year.

Santander UK, which conducted the survey, said the findings, if applied to the whole young population, would mean 4mn people finished their education without a “fundamental understanding of money management”.

William Vereker, Santander UK chair, said the research raised “significant” concerns that “the current school curriculum does not always equip young people with the knowledge they need to plan and manage their financial futures”.

“This gap is leading young adults to potentially unreliable online resources for advice,” he added.

The research, based on the responses of 2,000 people, took place just over a decade after financial education was added to the curriculum of local authority-run secondary schools in England. It was introduced in Wales in 2022.

Since the policy was introduced, the subject has largely been incorporated into non-core subjects, such as citizenship. It is optional for academies and free schools that are independent of local authorities and have greater flexibility than other schools.

Campaigners have warned that a lack of confidence in basic numeracy is making it harder for young people to manage money, find a job and can lead to mental health problems.

Charities, including the Financial Times’ Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign, have pressed the government to introduce policies that support better financial education.

The study found that young people were increasingly searching out alternative sources of information, with 31 per cent of those surveyed having turned to social media influencers for advice and 25 per cent using TikTok. 

The report, shared with the FT, also revealed that 79 per cent of those surveyed had never created a budget; 76 per cent had never paid a bill; and 77 per cent had not set aside funds for unexpected expenses.

Earlier last year, MPs on the House of Commons education select committee called on ministers to review the contents of the current maths curriculum to expand “the provision and relevance” of financial education. 

The cross-party group called on the government to make the “personal and societal elements” of financial education compulsory at primary and secondary school level.

The department for education said “high and rising standards” were at the heart of the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances.

It added that “financial education already forms a compulsory part of the national curriculum for maths at key stages 1-4 and citizenship at key stages 3 and 4”.

This covered “personal budgeting, calculating interest, financial products and services, and how public money is raised and spent”, the department said.

The curriculum and assessment review, being led by Becky Francis, a professor and expert in education policy at University College London, was considering how to guarantee that the curriculum “ensures young people leave education ready for life and work”.