Committee advances earned-wage access bill as amended, keeps payday database limited to legacy lenders

The House Industry, Business and Labor Committee voted to give a do‑pass recommendation to an amended version of House Bill 1393, a measure that would license and regulate earned‑wage access providers and require periodic reporting to the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI).

The amendment, presented by Vice Chair Ben Asley, mirrors elements of a Kansas regulatory model and keeps the existing payday‑loan shared database limited to legacy brick‑and‑mortar payday lenders rather than expanding it to all earned‑wage access products. DFI staff said the amended language creates a licensing class, bond and reporting framework to let regulators monitor volume, costs and profitability and to evolve reporting requirements over time.

Why it matters: earned‑wage access products — apps and services that allow workers to access earned but unpaid wages before payday — have proliferated in different business models. Committee members said licensing and disclosure will give the state data and consumer protections while avoiding immediate expansion of the payday database.

Core elements of the amendment, as DFI described them, include licensing and bonding requirements, mandatory consumer disclosures about cost, a requirement that providers offer a no‑fee option, a prohibition on certain deceptive practices, and a broad reporting authority for the commissioner to request data on volume and pricing. DFI’s Corey Krebs said the amendment is intentionally flexible to let the agency align reporting requirements with approaches other states and to revise them over time.

Action: Vice Chair Asley moved the amendment and later moved do‑pass as amended; Representative Bale seconded the do‑pass motion. The committee recorded a roll‑call vote and approved the bill as amended (majority recorded in roll call). The committee named a carrier to shepherd the bill to the floor.