Editor's note:Brian Tate is the CEO of the Innovative Payments Association, a trade association representing banks, credit card companies, and other payment service providers.

Over the past six years, I have written extensively about earned wage access (EWA), and one fundamental fact has remained constant: EWA allows American workers to manage their daily finances independently and provides a crucial safety net in emergencies.

This product is based on wages that workers have already earned. It is not a credit or loan product, as some have claimed, nor does it burden workers with debt.

Today, I urge the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a new advisory opinion clearly affirming the non-credit nature of EWA, thereby protecting hardworking Americans. This action would bring much-needed clarity and stability to the EWA market, ensuring this critical financial tool remains available.

As the CFPB noted in its2020 EWA advisory opinion, "EWA... enables employees to access wages they have already earned and are entitled to, and thus functions similarly to an employer advancing wages before the scheduled payday." That advisory opinion provided critical guidance, and the industry built compliant, consumer-centric products based on it.

The stability created by the 2020 advisory opinion allowed the EWA market to grow rapidly. Today, more providers, more business models, and significantly more consumers benefit from it than when the opinion was issued.

The benefits are clear: employees can access wages to cover unexpected expenses and smooth income fluctuations, while employers report improved financial stability and productivity among their teams.

At the state level, legislators have responded to EWA's unique nature by enacting consumer protections specifically tailored to it. These protections include requiring clear disclosures, offering free wage access options, and prohibiting debt collection practices, further emphasizing that EWA is not credit.

However, in July 2024, under then-Director Rohit Chopra, the CFPB changed course and issued aproposed interpretive rule(PIR) classifying EWA as a credit product. This action directly contradicted the agency's 2020 advisory opinion issued under Director Kathy Kraninger.

The 2024 PIR lacked research, analysis, and a nuanced understanding of the EWA market, causing widespread confusion among providers, media, and policymakers.

Although the 2024 PIR was ultimately not adopted, the CFPB took another troubling step in January 2025—less than a week before Inauguration Day—by issuing anadvisory opinionthat directly rescinded the 2020 advisory opinion. This last-minute decision was made without consulting EWA stakeholders and lacked the analytical depth expected when a federal agency overturns long-standing policy.

In response, the House Financial Services Committeeexpressed concerns, writing to CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought: "Committee Republicans strongly believe that advances of an individual's own earned funds are not 'credit' products." Committee members warned that classifying EWA as credit would discourage companies from offering the service, limit consumers' access to short-term liquidity, and push people toward higher-cost credit options. If you are confused, you are not alone.

On May 12, the CFPBpublished a list of guidance and interpretive rules it plans to rescind, including the January 2025 EWA advisory opinion. This is a welcome first step, but more action is needed to prevent the regulatory pendulum from swinging back and forth.

Americans living paycheck to paycheck deserve better. Our banking policies should reflect this reality. EWA allows working people to access money they have already earned—nothing more.

The CFPB should resolve this issue once and for all by issuing an expanded advisory opinion clearly affirming that all forms of EWA arenot credit. It is time to provide regulatory certainty that respects both common sense and consumer needs. Let us work together to achieve this goal.