A bipartisan bill targeting America’s payment infrastructure is gaining momentum, and new data on small business cash-flow gaps shows exactly why it matters. For many small business owners, getting paid is only half the battle. The other half is waiting for the money to arrive.

The Problem

Nearly 3 in 5 small business owners (59%) paid an extra fee for instant transfer or fast deposit in the past year, according to the QuickBooks 2026 Late Payments Report. For 15%, it’s routine. They’re paying, repeatedly, just to access money they’ve already earned.

The current U.S. payments system is built on networks, called payment rails, that route transactions and determine when money actually arrives. The Federal Reserve operates three of these networks: FedACH, Fedwire, and FedNow. Currently, only banks and credit unions can connect to those Federal Reserve networks directly.

The Proposed Solution

The PACE Act would create a supervised path for qualifying nonbank providers to connect to those Federal Reserve networks directly. To qualify, a provider would need to come under OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) oversight, the same federal regulator that supervises national banks.

The Financial Technology Association applauded the bill’s introduction, noting that “American consumers and small businesses shouldn’t have to wait days for a direct deposit to clear or a vendor check to arrive in the mail.”

The impact of faster payments is practical and immediate: the contractor waiting two days for a card payment to clear after finishing a job, the freelancer who paid $15 to get a payment the same day because rent was due, and the small retailer who took on short-term debt because payroll came before the funds settled.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.