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NewsBrief
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Hotels must get AI-ready soon, or Fed considers changes to check services
risk falling behind, Mews warns
The Federal Reserve is weighing whether to reduce the
Hotels face a narrowing window to prepare for an AI- scope of check services it provides, reflecting the contin-
driven future, according to Mews' 2026 hospitality out- ued decline in check usage and rising concerns about cost
look report, which calls the coming year a pivotal moment and fraud. The Fed voted to seek public input on potential
for transformation. The report predicts that by 2035, most changes, noting that interbank check volume fell to fewer
hotel discovery and booking will happen through AI-led than 3 billion in 2024, down sharply from 16 billion in 2018.
conversations, routine guest requests will be handled by
autonomous agents, and at least half of back-office work The move aligns with broader federal efforts to phase out
will be automated—while human staff focus on emotional, paper checks. Beginning Sept. 30, 2025, the Treasury's
high-impact interactions. Bureau of the Fiscal Service will stop issuing most paper
checks, citing higher fraud risk and delays compared with
Based on input from 18 cross-industry experts, the study electronic payments. Today, most Fed check processing
warns that hotels failing to make their systems and data involves electronic images from remote deposit capture
AI-readable risk becoming invisible in conversational rather than paper handling.
search and agent-mediated booking channels. Visibility
will depend less on advertising spend and more on struc- Fed staff said Reserve Banks would need to make substan-
tured data, consistent content and open integrations. tial investments to maintain current service levels and
asked whether those investments are justified. The vote to
The report also highlights a looming battle between on- issue a request for information was not unanimous. Vice
line travel agencies and direct bookings, with connectivity Chair Michelle Bowman dissented, arguing that although
and content quality determining who controls the guest checks represent only 5 percent of non-cash transactions,
relationship. To act, Mews recommends a four-step check- they account for 21 percent of transaction value and re-
list: assess tech stacks, centralize accurate content, launch main important to the payment system.
small supervised AI pilots, and establish strong gover-
nance and training.

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