H.R. 9331, STOP Payments Fraud Act of 2026

Bill Summary

H.R. 9331 would require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Reserve to establish new rules and regulations to permit banks and credit unions to delay the availability of funds for checks and wire transfers if they have specific indicators of fraud. The bill also would permit those agencies to adjust expedited funds availability requirements for Treasury and cashiers’ checks.

Estimated Federal Cost

The estimated budgetary effects of H.R. 9331 are shown in Table 1. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase direct spending by $3 million, decrease revenues by $7 million, and increase the deficit by $10 million over the 2026-2036 period. The costs of the legislation fall within budget function 370 (commerce and housing credit).

Basis of Estimate

CBO assumes that H.R. 9331 will be enacted at the beginning of fiscal year 2027. CBO expects the CFPB and the Federal Reserve would each need two new employees over the 2027-2029 period, at an average annual cost of $280,000 per employee, to establish the new rules and regulations. Additionally, CBO estimates that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) would need about one employee annually, at an average annual cost of $280,000 per employee in 2027, to support additional time needed for examinations of financial institutions.

Direct Spending

Expenditures for the CFPB, FDIC, NCUA, and OCC are classified in the budget as direct spending. The NCUA and OCC collect fees from regulated entities to offset their operating costs. Those fees are recorded in the budget as offsetting receipts, that is, as reductions in direct spending. Accounting for those fees, CBO estimates that, on net, enacting H.R. 9331 would increase direct spending by $3 million over the 2026-2036 period.

The CFPB is permanently authorized to spend amounts transferred from the combined earnings of the Federal Reserve to carry out its responsibilities, subject to a statutory cap that was most recently lowered by the 2025 reconciliation act (P.L. 119-21). CBO expects that the CFPB will spend all the transferred funds up to its cap in each year over the 2026‑2036 period for its current activities, so CBO does not attribute any increase in direct spending for the CFPB to legislation that increases its responsibilities.

Revenues

The Federal Reserve transfers to the Treasury the income it earns in excess of its expenses; those payments, known as remittances, are recorded in the budget as revenues. Costs incurred by the Federal Reserve therefore reduce revenues. CBO estimates that H.R. 9331 would decrease revenues by $7 million over the 2026-2036 period.

Changes in costs for the Federal Reserve banks have historically resulted in changes to remittances during the same year. However, since fiscal year 2023, most Federal Reserve banks have recorded deferred assets to account for accrued net losses from expenses in excess of income. As a result, remittances have been largely suspended. In CBO’s projections, those deferred assets persist for several years. CBO anticipates that most Federal Reserve banks will resume remittances by 2030 or 2031 and thus most of the effects of changes in costs before that time are reflected in the budget as changes in revenues only after that time.[1]

Spending Subject to Appropriation

Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that the costs for GAO to complete the required study would be less than $500,000 over the 2026-2031 period; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

Pay-As-You-Go Considerations

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays and revenues that are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in Table 1.

Increase in Long-Term Net Direct Spending and Deficits

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 9331 would not increase net direct spending by more than $2.5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 9331 would not increase on‑budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037.

Mandates

H.R. 9331 would impose private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The aggregate cost of those mandates would be small and under the thresholds established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($214 million in 2026, adjusted annually for inflation).

The bill would prohibit financial institutions from charging overdraft fees on certain consumers affected by fraudulent wire transfers unless written communication is provided by the institution to the consumer. Specifically, the notice would be provided regarding the delay of a wire transfer due to suspected fraud. The cost of the mandate would be expenses incurred by the financial institution to issue written notifications. Because the financial institution would use established methods of communication to provide such notice, the cost for those institutions to comply would be small.

If federal financial regulators increase annual fees to offset the costs of implementing provisions of H.R. 9331, it would increase the costs of an existing private-sector mandate on entities required to pay those fees. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be small.

The bill does not contain an intergovernmental mandate as defined in UMRA.

Estimate Prepared By

Federal Costs: Julia Aman

Revenues: Nathaniel Frentz

Mandates: Rachel Austin

Estimate Reviewed By

Justin Humphrey
Chief, Finance, Housing, and Education Cost Estimates Unit

Joshua Shakin
Chief, Revenue Projections

Kathleen FitzGerald 
Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit

H. Samuel Papenfuss 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

Estimate Approved By