Pew Urges Consideration of Regulatory Safeguards for Mobile Payments

Letter to House committee highlights evidence of consumer reliance on cash, warns against gaps in consumer protections

Pew Urges Consideration of Regulatory Safeguards for Mobile Payments

On Jan. 30, The Pew Charitable Trusts sent a letter summarizing its extensive payments research to inform discussion at the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services’ Task Force on Financial Technology hearing, “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments.” Pew’s work has largely focused on understanding how consumers view and use cash, mobile, and other payment methods, and the letter detailed why cash remains important to Americans, their hesitancy to adopt mobile payments, and gaps in consumer protections that could expose mobile payment users to loss of funds as new products become widely available.