Sponsor
Bryan Steil
Representative · R-WI
Representative · R-WI
Official title: To regulate the business of offering and providing earned wage access services to consumers, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 18, 2026 by Bryan Steil · Last progress June 18, 2026
The bill creates a federal, standardized EWA regime that gives low‑income workers a required no‑cost option and clearer disclosures and remedies, but it also removes EWA from existing TILA protections, preempts some state authority, and may raise compliance costs that reduce provider participation or shift costs onto workers or employers.
Low‑income workers can access earned wages without paying fees because providers must offer an identical no‑cost earned‑wage‑access (EWA) option.
People who use EWA get clearer, standardized consumer protections and remedies under a new federal framework — including required pre‑disbursement disclosures (fees, amounts, repayment timing, account details), ongoing access to fees/tips paid (pay‑period and year‑to‑date), the ability to cancel recurring EWA services without penalty, and formal dispute resolution for unauthorized or incorrect dis
Banks and other financial institutions face simpler compliance for EWA because EWA transactions are not treated as credit under TILA, reducing certain disclosure burdens and easing product compliance.
Excluding EWA from TILA and preempting state treatment of EWA could remove or weaken long‑standing consumer protections (e.g., APR and billing safeguards) and limit states' ability to impose stronger protections or enforcement.
Providers may reduce or exit EWA offerings if compliance (including new privacy/security obligations) raises costs, which would shrink access to EWA for workers and could concentrate the market with larger firms.
Prohibiting traditional collection actions (suits, arbitration, use of debt collectors) could shift recovery costs onto employers or providers, which may be recouped via higher fees or reduced service availability for workers and employers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires no-cost earned-wage access options, strong fee/tip disclosures, cancellation and dispute rights, and excludes EWA from TILA credit/creditor definitions.
Requires companies that let workers access earned wages early to offer an identical no-cost option and give clear, timely disclosures before and after transactions. It creates rules for fee and tip transparency, cancellations, dispute processes, advance notice for material changes, and changes federal definitions so earned wage access is treated outside the usual credit/creditor rules.