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In asking for input on how they can tackle payments fraud, with a particular focus on check fraud, the federal bank regulatory agencies have shown a willingness to tackle scams.
The Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced a request for comment on June 16, 2025.
They said that as payments fraud can involve multiple institutions and payment methods, no single agency or private-sector entity can address payments fraud on its own.
Michelle Bowman, the vice chair of the Federal Reserve, called the move a “welcome first step” in efforts to combat fraud.
The agencies are seeking public comment on distinct actions to mitigate payments fraud, including check fraud, within their respective bank regulation and payments authorities.
Taking on check fraud
Checks are already in global decline as a payment method – a trend set to accelerate in the US thanks to an executive order issued by President Trump in March.
Under the terms of the order, all US federal agencies must cease issuing checks for disbursements, benefits, vendor payments and tax refunds from September 30, 2025.
Although check use in general has fallen dramatically, it remains a significant payment method in the US, particularly for business-to-business (B2B) payments.
This type of fraud has increased as criminals have taken advantage of checks’ mandated clearing times and a lack of digital defences.
Bowman said that the rise in check fraud in recent years has resulted in harm to banks, especially community banks, and the consumers and businesses.
“While this has been a well-known problem for several years, efforts by regulators have been slow to advance, and seem to have done little to address this growing threat,” she said.
Bowman added: “We need a comprehensive strategy to develop and implement an effective, coordinated approach that is focused on preventing payments fraud and assisting consumers, businesses, and supervised institutions.”
Areas of improvement
The agencies said they are looking for comment on five areas for improvement and collaboration:
- External collaboration among the agencies, Federal Reserve Banks, and industry stakeholders.
- Consumer, business, and industry education by the agencies and Federal Reserve Banks.
- Regulation and supervision to mitigate payments fraud, including opportunities the Federal Reserve Board may have related to check fraud.
- Payments fraud data collection and information sharing.
- Federal Reserve Banks' operator tools and services to reduce payments fraud.
Comments must be received within 90 days of the date of publication in the Federal Register.
High and rising fraud rates
The agencies’ call for comment on fraud puts a spotlight on the persistently high levels of payments fraud in the US.
Reported losses from one type of fraudulently induced payment scam, fake investment opportunities, rose from $3.31bn in 2022 to $4.57bn in 2023, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) 2023 Internet Crime Report.
The rate of payments fraud has also attracted the attention of American lawmakers.
The intervention by the Federal Reserve, the FIDC, and the OCC follows a call for legislation to create a taskforce on payments fraud by a bipartisan group of US senators.
On June 13, 2025, Senators Mike Crapo, (R-Idaho) and Senator Mark Warner, (D-Virginia) introduced the bipartisan Task Force for Recognising and Averting Payments Scams (TRAPS) Act, which would create a task force on payment scams.
This task force would be responsible for surveying current practices across the payments landscape and recommending changes to regulation.
A variation on the trend for deregulation
The call for comment is at odds with a general trend towards financial deregulation under President Trump, which has seen the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) pull out of lawsuits and withdraw guidance documents.
This has shifted the regulatory focus from the federal to the state level, and is likely to lead to regulatory fragmentation and growing complexity as states apply their own rules to boost consumer protection.
The federal deregulatory trend has been particularly marked in the crypto-asset sector, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropping or staying a number of high profile cases.
These include actions against Binance, Uniswap Labs, OpenSea and Justin Sun, the largest investor in World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto business.
However, the intervention on payments fraud by federal banking agencies signals continued attempts at consumer protection at the federal level, and is something of a variation on the trend for hands-off regulation and leaving things to individual states.
