Calls for bipartisan action to modernize oversight, strengthen community banks, and support responsible bank-fintech partnerships

Washington, D.C. (December 9, 2025) – The American Fintech Council (AFC), the premier industry association representing responsible fintech companies and innovative banks, urged congressional leaders to ensure the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 includes bipartisan legislation which would deliver significant updates to community-bank supervision and bank-fintech partnerships. Advanced this year by the House Financial Services Committee, these bills would modernize the supervisory framework, reduce unnecessary burdens on community banks, strengthen minority- and rural-serving institutions, and provide clearer, more stable regulatory expectations for bank-fintech partnerships.

AFC emphasized that codifying these provisions is essential to locking in durable, bipartisan reforms that focus regulatory supervision on material risks, protect bank-fintech partnerships from political swings, encourage competition, and secure consumer access to responsible financial products across the country.

“Congress has a rare opportunity to strengthen community banking and protect the responsible fintech partnerships that millions of consumers rely on,” said Phil Goldfeder, CEO of the American Fintech Council. “As negotiations on the NDAA conclude, lawmakers should seize the moment and deliver long-overdue modernization that makes our financial system safer, more innovative, and more reflective of consumers’ banking habits.”

The bills advanced out of the House Financial Services Committee, including the FAIR Exams Act (H.R. 940), SMART Act (H.R. 4437), TRUST Act (H.R. 4478), Advancing the Mentor-Protégé Program for Small Financial Institutions Act (H.R. 3709), FIRM Act (H.R. 2702), TAILOR Act (H.R. 3380), and the Community Bank Deposit Access Act (H.R. 5317), would collectively promote risk-based oversight, enhance regulatory clarity, reduce burdens for well-managed community banks, and ensure that bank-fintech partnerships continue to support consumer access. These reforms also reflect and reinforce the current regulatory direction, ensuring stability across political environments.

“Regulatory clarity is essential for a modern financial system, and Congress now has the chance to codify practical, risk-based reforms that empower community banks while strengthening consumer-focused innovation,” said Ian P. Moloney, Chief Policy Officer at the American Fintech Council. “While we are greatly encouraged by the work conducted by leaders at the FDIC, OCC, and the Federal Reserve, codifying these efforts in statute will provide durable regulatory frameworks, reinforce ongoing supervisory modernization, and help ensure that responsible bank-fintech partnerships continue to deliver safe, affordable financial products nationwide.”

AFC previously communicated its strong support for these legislative efforts in correspondence to congressional committees throughout 2025, noting that each bill improves transparency, promotes consistent supervisory expectations, and enables institutions, particularly community banks and fintech partners, to compete effectively in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

As Congress works to finalize the FY 2026 NDAA, AFC stands ready to collaborate with lawmakers in advancing these bipartisan reforms and remains committed to fostering responsible innovation, strengthening competition, and ensuring consumers have access to safe, affordable, and transparent financial tools.

A standards-based organization, AFC is the premier trade association representing the largest financial technology (Fintech) companies and innovative banks offering embedded finance solutions. AFC’s mission is to promote a transparent, inclusive, and customer-centric financial system by supporting responsible innovation in financial services and encouraging sound public policy. AFC members foster competition in consumer finance and pioneer products to better serve underserved consumer segments and geographies.

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