Fixing America’s payment system: The role of banks and fintech

America’s outdated payment system makes it more expensive to be poor. In a nation where half of all families live paycheck to paycheck, it still takes days for paychecks to clear and bill payments to process. The result costs those families and businesses billions of dollars, increasing reliance on overdraft fees, payday loans, and check cashers. In a world where information moves at light speed, money moves much slower. Why? How can we fix it?

On Wednesday, July 29, the Brookings Center on Regulation and Markets hosted Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks to present his ideas on how to improve America’s payment system and accelerate the velocity of money. As the regulator of America’s national banks and a leading expert on financial technology he has a key role potentially solving this problem. Following a conversation with the comptroller, a panel of experts reacted to the comptroller’s comments and offererd their own takes on the payments problem and how to fix it.

Viewers can submit questions and join the conversation by emailing events@brookings.edu or via Twitter using #FixPayments.