the ACH network gained widespread adoption when the gov't pushed a new banking standard down to ensure electronic disbursement of social security payments could

the ACH network gained widespread adoption when the gov't pushed a new banking standard down to ensure electronic disbursement of social security payments could be made. In this way ACH is a government sponsored payment infrastructure with it's own standard. The standard is actively managed by a gov't agency (the Fed/NACHA). But ACH leaves much to be desired, which is why proprietary payment networks (VISA/MC/AMEX, PayPal, inter-bank non-ACH transfers) have been developed. I'm doubtful that the gov't again pushing a standard, even one that's as widely adopted as ACH, would be able to keep up with the changing demands of the market. We tried this already and it didn't work, but maybe I'm just being cynical.