1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Payments Modernization Act of 2019 . 2. Findings and purposes (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Families in the United States spend billions of dollars in overdraft fees in part because they are waiting for checks to clear over a weekend or holiday. (2) The inefficient payment system in the United States drives families, especially those living paycheck to paycheck, to use high-cost financial services to access funds more rapidly. (3) A faster payment system would provide people of the United States immediate access to funds and relief for those who overdraw their accounts because their deposits are not available in real-time, helping families potentially save billions of dollars each year. (4) The United States lags behind other countries in the speed and efficiency of its payment system. (5) Central banks around the world have already implemented real-time payment systems, including in the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Poland, Japan, and South Africa. (6) The Federal Reserve System was created by Congress on December 24, 1913, in response to the financial panic of 1907. (7) Since its beginning, the Federal Reserve System has played a crucial role in the payment system of the United States. (8) The role of the Federal Reserve System in providing payment services is— (A) to promote the integrity and efficiency of the payment mechanism; and (B) to ensure the provision of payment services to all depository institutions on an equitable basis and in an atmosphere of competitive fairness. (9) The Monetary Control Act of 1980 (title I of Public Law 96–221