On July 10, the Senate Banking Committee held the second hearing in a two-part series on developing a framework for safe and efficient mobile payment systems. A panel comprised of economic and legal experts in the area of mobile payments updated the Committee on the state of the market and provided ideas for establishing an appropriate regulatory framework that balances innovation and consumer protection. Among other topics, the panelists and Senators discussed information collection and use and the related privacy and data security risks to consumers, as well as to merchants taking mobile payments. At the first hearing in the series, held in March, the Committee received testimony from regulatory experts from the Federal Reserve System. During that hearing the Committee sought information about the current roles of regulators with regard to mobile payments, and potential gaps in the regulatory structure. The House Financial Services Committee recently concluded a similar series in which it explored the regulatory structure for mobile payments and assessed the market impacts of mobile payment advances.
