Bill Commons

DE SB 137

Status unknown

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 5 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EARNED WAGE ACCESS SERVICES PROVIDERS.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · upper

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Quick answers

Did DE SB 137 pass?

The current status of DE SB 137 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2025-06-18): Reported Out of Committee (Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 6 On Its Merits

What is DE SB 137 about?

Earned Wage Access (EWA) is a Fintech product that allows workers to voluntarily access the money they have already earned during a pay-period for work they have already completed, ahead of their scheduled payday. Users primarily access EWA services through a mobile app and are only able to withdraw wages their EWA provider has verified that they have already earned. This verification process, coupled with the fact that EWA transactions are non-recourse and credit-invisible make the product distinct from loans and credit cards. As an innovative financial product with distinct characteristics that do not fit within existing regulations, EWA requires a distinct regulatory framework. Currently, more than 100,000 workers in Delaware have already used Earned Wage Access services, which are mostly unregulated in the state. This bill helps ensure that responsible EWA providers can operate under the supervision of Delaware’s banking regulator and continue to serve users in the state of Delaware. Moreover, this bill codifies a regulatory framework that recognizes the distinct characteristics of EWA products and will keep Delawareans protected from bad actors who might seek to use the “Earned Wage Access” moniker, while instead offering a predatory product. Specifically, this bill protects consumers in Delaware by creating a new Earned Wage Access provider license, issued by the Office of the State Bank Commissioner to companies whose products meet the following criteria, ensuring that: • All users have at least one reasonable no-cost option for each transaction • All fees and gratuities are clearly and transparently represented to users before they confirm their transactions • EWA transactions are credit-invisible, that providers do not check a user’s credit before issuing EWA services, nor do they report to a credit agency if a user cancels their service • EWA providers do not pursue recourse against users including charging interest, late fees, or sending unresolved EWA transactions to collections

Who sponsors DE SB 137?

John "Jack" Walsh, David P. Sokola, William Bush and 1 others are the primary sponsors of DE SB 137.

Description

Earned Wage Access (EWA) is a Fintech product that allows workers to voluntarily access the money they have already earned during a pay-period for work they have already completed, ahead of their scheduled payday. Users primarily access EWA services through a mobile app and are only able to withdraw wages their EWA provider has verified that they have already earned. This verification process, coupled with the fact that EWA transactions are non-recourse and credit-invisible make the product distinct from loans and credit cards. As an innovative financial product with distinct characteristics that do not fit within existing regulations, EWA requires a distinct regulatory framework. Currently, more than 100,000 workers in Delaware have already used Earned Wage Access services, which are mostly unregulated in the state. This bill helps ensure that responsible EWA providers can operate under the supervision of Delaware’s banking regulator and continue to serve users in the state of Delaware. Moreover, this bill codifies a regulatory framework that recognizes the distinct characteristics of EWA products and will keep Delawareans protected from bad actors who might seek to use the “Earned Wage Access” moniker, while instead offering a predatory product. Specifically, this bill protects consumers in Delaware by creating a new Earned Wage Access provider license, issued by the Office of the State Bank Commissioner to companies whose products meet the following criteria, ensuring that: • All users have at least one reasonable no-cost option for each transaction • All fees and gratuities are clearly and transparently represented to users before they confirm their transactions • EWA transactions are credit-invisible, that providers do not check a user’s credit before issuing EWA services, nor do they report to a credit agency if a user cancels their service • EWA providers do not pursue recourse against users including charging interest, late fees, or sending unresolved EWA transactions to collections

Introduced
2025-05-13
Latest action
2025-06-18 — Reported Out of Committee (Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 6 On Its Merits
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • John "Jack" Walshprimary
  • David P. Sokolaprimary
  • William Bushprimary
  • Spiros Mantzavinosprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2025-06-18

    Reported Out of Committee (Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 6 On Its Merits

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  2. 2025-05-13

    Introduced and Assigned to Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Documents

Votes

Not provided by source.

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T03:53:51.443619Z

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