Erin F. Fonté

Erin advises banks, financial institutions, fintech companies, retailers, and digital wallet providers on bank-fintech partnerships, payment stablecoins, tokenized deposits, embedded banking, agentic commerce, real-time payments, money transmission licensing, and digital financial services regulation. She is co-chair of the firm’s financial institutions corporate and regulatory practice and has more than 20 years of experience in financial services law.

Erin works in some of the most complex and fast-moving areas of financial services law, including bank-fintech partnership agreements, traditional and emerging payments (including payment stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and digital assets), bank technology stack development, AI, banking operations, and financial services data privacy and security. She has been involved in the creation of new payment networks and has worked extensively on agentic commerce, new product development, and the network operating rules and compliance frameworks that govern emerging payment systems. 

As a frequent speaker and commentator on fintech and payments law, Erin has authored chapters in leading legal treatises such as Electronic Payment Systems: Law and Emerging Technologies and The Financial Technology Law Review, and is a regular contributor to publications such as The Banking Law Journal, Bloomberg BNA’s Banking Report and Total Retail. She has been named a “Client Service All-Star” by BTI Consulting and has been recommended for Finance: FinTech by Legal 500 United States for seven consecutive years.

Banking and Financial Services 

• Advises payments, banking, and financial services clients regarding statutes, regulations, guidelines, financial institution letters, legal opinion letters, and interpretive rulings and policy statements involving state agencies and federal regulatory bodies/agencies such as:
  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
  • Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)
  • Federal Reserve Board (FRB)
  • Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
  • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
  • National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
  • Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
  • State departments of banking and financial institutions (such as the Texas Department of Banking and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation)
• Counsels payments, banking, and financial services clients regarding legal and regulatory issues related to financial services, including requirements of and compliance with:
  • The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
  • Federal anti-money laundering laws, the USA PATRIOT Act, and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations
  • State and local laws
  • Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Article 4A
  • Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA)/Regulation E
  • Check21 Act/check imaging
  • Regulation CC (funds availability)
  • Truth in Lending Act/Regulation Z
  • Nacha, Swift, and other card and payment association network rules and requirements
  • Various state money-transmission laws (including virtual currency regulations)
  • Various federal and state financial privacy laws and data security breach laws

Banking and Financial Technology Agreements

• Works with 25+ banks for fintech partnerships regarding payment product, embedded banking and payment stablecoin, and tokenized deposits customer products and services.
• Advises banks and financial institution clients regarding strategic evaluation, implementation, and launch of payment stablecoin and tokenized deposit services, including back-end third-party vendor agreements, partner agreements, and customer-facing agreements.
• Represents numerous financial institutions with regard to creation and implementation of digital banking services, including alternative payment services such as person-to-person (P2P) transfers, payment stablecoin services, and tokenized deposits.
• Negotiates agreements for the bank technology stack supporting payments transactions, including core processing, digital banking, card processing/servicing platforms, real-time payments, bill payment and presentment services, AML/BSA compliance, and fraud and identity management solutions.
• Represents banks and financial services clients regarding banking-related agreements covering software services (including outsourcing), accounts receivable/payable management via electronic data interchange (EDI), and one-stop payments management for retail customers.
• Advises banking, financial services, and corporate clients with regard to treasury management services (such as ACH, wire transfers, Check21, and remote capture issues), internet banking (including user agreements), ATM/check card services, merchant payment card and credit card processing services, end-user license agreements, website terms of use, and privacy policies.
• Advises banks and financial institutions on third-party vendor negotiations regarding digital banking “white label” platforms and related third-party due diligence.
• Assists financial institutions to develop new products and services, including consumer and business products, banking services, and point-of-sale financing options.
• Counsels clients regarding problems and losses due to financial fraud conducted by electronic funds transfers, real-time payments, ACH transactions, wires, and debit/credit/stored value cards and products.

Payments Systems, Agentic and Digital Commerce

• Represents retailers, financial institutions, non-bank payment systems, and financial services companies who are building out their payments and embedded finance technology stack either internally or in collaboration with key third-party payments partners (ISOs, gateways, processors, etc.) in order to create “anywhere commerce,” including agentic commerce, digital commerce, and physical point of sale systems.
• With a collaborative and business-focused approach, helps clients innovate confidently, manage risk proactively, and operate with clarity in a complex and highly regulated marketplace.

Payments Regulatory and Compliance

• Provides forward-looking counsel on structuring payment industry business models and products to minimize regulatory burden and maintain compliance with respect to federal, state, and international regulations, including:
  • Money transmission, prepaid access, virtual card, and stored‑value structures
  • Payment facilitator (PayFac), marketplace, and embedded‑commerce models
  • Reg E, Reg Z, UDAAP, and state consumer protection guidance
  • Network rules, sponsorship bank relationships, and program governance
  • “Buy now, pay later” point-of-sale and embedded financing products and services
  • Real‑time payments, open banking, stablecoins and tokenized transactions, and digital wallets
  • AI agentic commerce functionality, including end-user payments and agentic commerce protocols
  • Product structuring and launch support, including payment flows, sponsor bank relationships, BIN sponsorship models, and risk allocation
  • Risk, fraud, and operational governance, including policies, controls, disclosures, and compliance assessments
  • Disputes and investigations, advising on regulatory inquiries, enforcement matters, chargeback issues, and operational failures
  • Unclaimed property, escheat, and gift card/loyalty programs

Commercial, Technology, and Vendor Contracting

• Extensive experience architecting and negotiating vendor, network, and customer-facing contracts from nearly every angle of the payments sphere, including arrangements with or for merchants/retailers, financial institutions, fintechs, and technology partners, such as:
  • Payment processing agreements with merchant acquirers, ISOs, PayFacs, and payment gateways (credit card, debit card, and stored value cards)
  • Interchange and network fee discount agreements
  • Issuing and acquiring bank arrangements and agreements
  • Co-branded and private label credit card agreements and partnerships
  • Embedded financing services, including “Buy now, pay later” (BNPL) purchase options
  • Bank and BIN sponsorship agreements and programs
  • Fintech partnerships and bank‑fintech program documents
  • Cloud, SaaS, fraud‑management, and identity‑verification vendor contracts
  • Digital commerce services and digital wallet agreements
  • Point-of-sale hardware and software agreements
  • Systems integration services and back-office support services
  • Data‑sharing arrangements and API/data access terms
  • Agentic commerce functionality, including agentic payments features
• Advises on the design and launch of closed-loop, open-loop, and reloadable gift card/prepaid/stored-value card programs (physical and virtual).

Fintech and Bank-Fintech Partnerships

• Represents financial institutions, fintech companies, and digital payment providers on the full range of regulatory, compliance, and contractual matters arising from bank-fintech partnerships, embedded banking services, and digital payment systems.
• Advises on product design and launch, partnership agreement structuring, regulatory compliance, and emerging payments technology—including payment stablecoins, tokenized deposits, real-time payments, digital wallets, and open banking frameworks.
• Represents a client developing a “side-core” product for banks and credit unions seeking to offer stablecoin, tokenized deposits, and digital asset services to end customers.
• Advises payments companies, digital commerce platforms, digital asset and cryptocurrency firms, fintechs, and retailers in addressing electronic payment regulations, federal FinCEN money services business registration, and state money transmitter licensing, including assisting in nationwide licensing applications.
• Advises a fintech payments processor platform operator on matters related to customer-facing disclosures, advertising and marketing compliance, and risk management.
• Represents a client developing and implementing digital wallet products that seek to combine digital and physical point-of-sale payment functions with loyalty/rewards, targeted ads and offers, and financial spend and budgeting services.
• Counsels a national digital wallet provider on regulatory issues and compliance, privacy and data security, and intellectual property matters, including advice regarding product development and launch.
• Represents fintech in product development, referral partnerships, and compliance regarding niche driver and fleet management fuel and expense payment cards and digital wallets.
• Advises an app developer in creation of a digital-wallet “white label” software development kit for use by various digital wallet providers, providing counsel on joint-development and customer agreements.
• Represents numerous financial institutions with regard to creation and implementation of digital banking apps, including mobile deposit-capture features and alternative payment services such as person-to-person (P2P) transfers.
• Represents a digital banking platform developer with regard to regulatory, compliance, and privacy and data security issues, as well as mobile banking customer-facing terms and conditions, and provides guidance on financial institution contracts (as third-party vendor).
• Represents emerging financial technology companies providing traditional financial services.
• Advises financial institutions, vendors, processors, and merchants on real-time payments, ACH transactions, wires, and physical and remote deposit-capture, check-based payments, transactions, disputes, and related agreements.
• Advises as “product counsel” to credit, debit, and prepaid card issuers regarding product design, compliance with consumer financial laws and regulations, launch, and updates.
• Provides guidance and interpretation regarding payment network rules and creates bespoke payment network rules for emerging payment platforms.

Retail and Digital Commerce

• Represents software, computer hardware, banking, digital-first, and retail corporate clients (including traditional and online-only clients) regarding digital commerce technology product development, agreements, and distribution activities such as licensing, sales, marketing, distribution, alliance, vendor, subcontractor, outsourcing, and payment processing agreements (including service level agreements), formation of strategic alliances, cross-marketing arrangements, website/mobile development agreements, website hosting agreements, website/mobile privacy policies, and conditions of use.
• Counsels retail, restaurant, banking, and other corporate clients on a broad range of regulatory, legal, and business matters relevant to the retail industry, including loyalty/rewards programs, advertising and offers, data analytics and “big data,” marketing and promotions, electronic payments, and other issues.
• Works with numerous retail clients and consumer service providers on digital commerce platforms and payments technology stack, including working with payment processing providers, ISOs, digital gateways, and vendor ecosystem of payment processing for retailers and merchants.
• Advises on payment processing agreements and point-of-sale/point-of-purchase software and hardware, including digital and mobile payment acceptance issues, and regulatory and compliance on security requirements such as PCI-DSS.
• Represents retailers and merchants with regard to digital commerce websites/mobile apps with regard to payment acceptance and payment processing options.
• Represents retailers and travel services companies in arrangements for co-branded credit card programs tied to loyalty programs.
• Provides legal advice to retailers and merchants on closed-loop gift card products, including physical and virtual cards and card accounts, and advice regarding unclaimed property issues and escheat laws.
• Works directly as outside corporate counsel to a consortium of 45+ in-house business clients to draft and negotiate agreements for the US digital wallet product launch.
• Advises on the multistate launch and operations in the US of a major UK-based supermarket chain, including commercial banking, credit card, payment processing, and ATM agreements; private label and branded product supplier agreements; corporate payables agreements; and various consulting services and survey and reporting services agreements.
• Negotiates agreements and counsels retailers on point-of-sale systems to accept flexible spending debit cards associated with supplemental benefits plans.
• Assists retailer card issuer in redesigning existing rewards program, creating benchmarks against best-in-class standards, conducting risk assessments, transitioning grandfathered point balances, and terminating legacy features.
• Counsels clients on risk-mitigation initiatives, such as chargeback management programs and dispute resolution frameworks.

• Recommended for Finance: FinTech, Legal 500 United States, 2020-2026
• Named a “Client Service All‐Star” by BTI, 2022
• Expert Panel, The Law Reviews, 2020
• Recognized as the Corporate/Transactional Award Winner by the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association, 2019
• University of Texas President’s Council
• University of Texas Junior Fellow
• Named a Leading Banking and Finance Lawyer by Chambers USA, 2015

• State Bar of Texas
• College of the State Bar of Texas, Board of Directors (former)
• State Bar of California
• Austin Bar Association
• Southwest Association of Bank Counsel, Former President
• Federal Reserve Board Faster Payments Task Force, Member