The Debanking Debate: Regulators, Risk, and Reality for Payments

In this special crossover episode of Payments Pros and The Consumer Finance podcasts, Carlin McCrory, Keith Barnett, and Chris Willis explore the federal government's increasing attention to “debanking” and what it means for payment processors, money transmitters, banks, and other financial services providers. They discuss recent federal initiatives and agency activity that have heightened scrutiny of decisions to onboard, maintain, or terminate customers and merchants, particularly where those decisions may be perceived as based on political or religious viewpoints. The conversation highlights emerging regulatory theories about when debanking could be treated as an unfair practice, and how those theories align with existing statutory and case law frameworks. The group also examines the interaction between legitimate risk management under the BSA and reputational risk. They close with practical takeaways for the industry, including the importance of revisiting risk and onboarding practices, aligning those practices with evolving regulatory expectations, and maintaining clear documentation to support decisions about customer and merchant relationships in a changing oversight environment. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.