The Federal Reserve, which currently faces a Supreme Court case related to the fees, will vote on a proposal next week that will likely open up a rulemaking process to lower debit card interchange fees. 

At a Senate Banking subcommittee meeting, Republican and Democratic lawmakers both promoted the mission of community development financial institutions and warned of upcoming threats to their funding and proposals to revamp the CDFI certification process.

Because instant settlement is irreversible, companies like Orum expect to see demand for systems that can vet recipients within seconds.

The nation's second-largest bank reported strong growth in net interest income, revenue and profits. But analysts continued to express concern about unrealized losses, which swelled to $131.6 billion.

The two megabanks continue to shrink their branch networks, with BofA planning to close 20 locations and Wells recently shuttering 15. Both banks are also opening new branches in certain markets.

Executives of the $405 billion-asset bank say that they have completed 40% of a cost-cutting strategy begun earlier this year.