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Let's make stimulus calls for another set of $1,200 payments. While similar to
the previous stimulus package, payments would be more
efforts about saving generous, with up to $6,000 per family, including $2,400
per married couple and $1,200 per dependent for up to
three children.
SMBs Some Republican lawmakers, like Sen. Rob Portman,

R-Ohio, have focused on providing incentives to get people
back to work. He proposed giving a $450 weekly bonus to
Americans who return to work. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas,
offered a one-time $1,200 payment for those who return
to work. If approved by the Senate, this legislation's relief
could take weeks, if not months, to reach people, based on
the current status of negotiations.

Where did all the small businesses go?
Imagine a future where all the small businesses we love are
gone? Your favorite local market whose employees know
you by name. Your favorite restaurant with doting staff who
By George Sarantopoulos help you make a birthday celebration memorable. Don't
Access One Solutions think it can happen in the United States? Talking heads
think differently, and the pandemic has only helped the
omething is missing in current stimulus propos- big guys get that much more powerful in the marketplace.
als: small and midsize businesses (SMBs). Funds
would flow to major retailers, which are already Let's rethink our approach to these stimulus packages.
S thriving under today's conditions, while small What are we trying to accomplish? How can we promptly
and midsize enterprises remain closed or limited by local deliver funds to the most deserving businesses? And
COVID-19 restrictions. finally, why bring an analog mindset to a digital game?
We've spent years building a digital payments ecosystem
This spring, Jim Cramer, host of CNBC's "Mad Money" and that is fully capable of handling the current crisis. This
co-anchor of "Squawk on the Street," told CNBC blogger disaster zone needs the Federal Reserve's Faster Payments
Matt Belvedere that pending COVID-19 legislation could Task Force and the Automated Clearing House, not random
help destroy SMBs, leaving only the Amazon-Walmart- distributions and helicopter money drops.
Costco trifecta intact. Belvedere shared Cramer's concerns
in a March 25, 2020, post titled "Cramer worries that post- Why not create a closed-loop card that can be spent in
coronavirus US could have just three retailers: Amazon, restaurants and shops in your local ZIP code? Even if
Walmart, Costco." Two days later, the CARES Act was some funds flow into a local Walmart or Costco, at least
signed into law. the spend would help keep local people employed. In rural
locales, areas could be expanded to include adjoining ZIP
Scott Galloway, author and professor of marketing at the codes, while blocking out some high-risk categories in the
New York University Stern School of Business, is also payments industry to make it broadly appealing to both
concerned about stimulus funds distribution. His views sides of the House.
are captured in a May 13, 2020, YouTube interview with
Yahoo Finance's On The Move, titled, "The stimulus might Despite numerous proposals under consideration, from
as well be called the Amazon-Walmart shareholder's act." one-time payments to recurring weekly payments, the one
Recalling that previous stimulus packages have resulted in thing missing is the small and midsize business owner,
some form of moral hazard, Galloway observed that current who doesn't have the luxury of time. Main Street needs
proposals do nothing but "rob from future generations to our help, now more than ever. Let's leverage our collective
flatten the curve for people who are already rich." payments industry know-how and create a 21st-century
distribution plan, backed by public service announcements
Not-so-fast payouts and heavy internet promotion. This approach, combined
Also noticeably absent from stimulus discussions is the with celebrity endorsements from different regions,
notion of faster payments. In an era that brought us the will reinforce the message to shop locally and save our
Federal Reserve's Faster Payments Task Force, why are we communities.
having such a hard time with timely distribution of funds? George Sarantopoulos is the CEO and founder of Access One Solutions
and Chair of the National ATM Council. When he's not fighting the
Assuming Congress passes another stimulus bill, expect to good fight, he can be found on Twitter @GSarantopoulos or by email
see record delays in distribution. Consider the Heroes Act, at georges@accessoneatm.com.
passed by the House of Representatives on May 15, which
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