White House Issues Executive Order to Streamline Fintech Regulation and Fed Access

On May 19, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled "Integrating Financial Technology Innovation into Regulatory Frameworks," directing a comprehensive regulatory overhaul to reduce barriers for fintech firms.

Core Directives

90-Day Regulatory Review (Sec. 3a): The heads of all federal financial regulators (CFPB, SEC, NCUA, CFTC, FDIC, OCC) must identify regulations, guidance, supervisory practices, and application processes that "unduly impede fintech firms" — particularly small and emerging ones — from:

• Entering partnerships with federally regulated institutions
• Seeking bank charters, credit union charters, deposit insurance, or other federal licenses

180-Day Action (Sec. 3b): Regulators must take concrete steps to encourage innovation based on their reviews.

Federal Reserve Access (Sec. 4): The Federal Reserve Board is requested to:

• Evaluate the legal framework governing access to Reserve Bank payment accounts and services by uninsured depository institutions and non-bank financial companies (including those engaged in digital assets)
• Submit findings to the President within 120 days
• Assess legal authority under the Federal Reserve Act, options for expanding access, impediments, and whether individual Reserve Banks have independent authority to grant or deny access
• If existing law permits expanded access, establish transparent application procedures with 90-day determination timelines

Strategic Significance

This is the most explicit White House directive to date pushing federal financial regulators to lower barriers for fintech firms. The Federal Reserve access provision is especially consequential — it directly addresses a long-running fintech grievance that denial of master account access prevents non-bank firms from competing fairly in payments. The order also explicitly frames incumbent-favoring regulations as a problem to be corrected.

Scope

The definition of "fintech firm" is broad, covering payment processing, lending, deposit-taking, derivatives, investment management, brokerage, underwriting, digital banking, digital asset services, securities/commodities market activities, and blockchain-based services.