NetChoice supports the underlying intent of HB26-1046 to create clarity and consumer protections around earned wage access offerings. However, any attempt to include a ban on voluntary tipping goes far beyond what consumer protection requires — and far beyond what we believe Colorado can constitutionally justify, particularly given that the bill’s existing framework already addresses those goals.
NetChoice Testimony on Colorado HB26-1046, An Act Concerning Earned Wage Access
February 19, 2026
Dear Chair Woodrow, Vice Chair Titone and Members of the House Finance Committee:
On behalf of NetChoice, a trade association working to make the internet safe for free enterprise and free expression, we appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony which would impose new licensing and operational requirements on earned wage access (EWA) providers in Colorado.
Earned wage access platforms provide essential financial flexibility to workers, allowing them to access wages they have already earned but have not yet been paid. Colorado workers benefit from these innovative services that help them manage financial emergencies, avoid bank overdraft fees, and reduce reliance on high-interest credit products. Additionally, these services help workers avoid predatory alternatives like payday loans, which often trap consumers in cycles of debt with APRs that can exceed 400%.
NetChoice supports the underlying intent of HB26-1046 to create clarity and consumer protections around earned wage access offerings. We appreciate the Committee’s effort to strike a workable compromise that:
- Establishes a licensing regime for EWA providers, bringing transparency and oversight to services that are currently unregulated in Colorado.
- Embeds strong consumer safeguards, including clear disclosures, cancellation rights, and prohibitions on harmful practices such as punitive collection tactics or credit reporting.
- Ensures that at least one no-cost option is available, which promotes access for lower-income workers.
- Caps service fees in a way that provides predictability without stifling competition or innovation.
However, we are concerned about a forthcoming amendment that would ban voluntary gratuities (“tips”) in the context of EWA products. The voluntary tipping model isn’t just a financial mechanism—it’s a form of expressive association. When users choose to tip, they’re communicating support for a service that helps millions avoid predatory lending. By constraining this solicitation, Colorado would effectively silence a critical form of community-supported financial innovation.
A blanket prohibition on tip solicitation would go far beyond anything consumer protection requires and would cause direct, measurable harm to providers and the consumers who depend on their services. Tips are a meaningful revenue source for EWA providers, particularly smaller and newer entrants that operate on thin margins. Eliminating this revenue stream entirely would make it financially unviable for many providers to continue offering services — especially free-tier options — to Colorado consumers. The consumers most likely to lose access are precisely those with the fewest financial alternatives: lower-income workers living paycheck to paycheck who rely on EWA services to cover unexpected expenses without resorting to overdraft fees or payday loans.
Beyond its economic impact, a blanket tip ban raises serious constitutional concerns. The Supreme Court has been clear, including in Riley v. National Federation of the Blind, that solicitation of voluntary support carries robust First Amendment protection that the government cannot burden without compelling justification. Prohibiting tip solicitation entirely — not just during a narrow transactional window, but categorically — would impose a far broader prior restraint on provider speech than the current bill contemplates, and one that Colorado cannot constitutionally justify given the consumer protection goals are already addressed through the bill’s existing framework.
Earned wage access products provide valuable financial flexibility to Colorado workers. We respectfully urge the Committee to preserve the integrity of that compromise by rejecting any amendment that would expand the bill’s narrow tip solicitation restriction into a categorical ban. Such an amendment would reduce consumer access to essential financial services, threaten the viability of providers who serve Colorado’s most financially vulnerable workers, and introduce constitutional infirmities into an otherwise sound piece of legislation.
As always, we offer ourselves as a resource to discuss any of these issues with you in further detail, and we appreciate the opportunity to provide the Committee with our thoughts on this important matter.
Sincerely,
Amy Bos
Vice President of Government Affairs
NetChoice
NetChoice is a trade association that works to make the internet safe for free enterprise and free expression.