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.

Bar Admissions
Texas

California

Education
JD, Stanford Law School, with distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, 2002

BA, The University of Texas at Austin, with honors, 1995

2017 Texas Legislative Recap of New Laws Affecting Financial Institutions Operating in Texas, NextGen Financial Services Report

2019 Retail Industry Year in Review

2020 Retail Industry Year in Review

2025 Retail Industry Year In Review

Accepting Credit Card Payments, State Bar of Texas Circuits Newsletter, Computer and Technology Section

Amendments to Regulation CC Affect Liability Considerations for Financial Institutions, NextGen Financial Services Report

Artificial Intelligence 2025 Year in Review

As Agentic AI Usage Skyrockets, Retailers Face New Challenges and Risks

BNA Insights: OCC Takes the Lead in Regulating Fintech, Bloomberg BNA's Banking Report

Brave New Wheels? Potential Uses for Blockchain Technology in Auto Finance, NextGen Financial Services Report

Cloud Computing Legal Issues for Financial Services (Chapter 6), Cloud 3.0 Drafting and Negotiating Cloud Computing Agreements, American Bar Association

Crumpets, Congress, Cannabis and Crypto: Top 10 Issues for Financial Services in 2019 (Part 1 of 2), NextGen Financial Services

Crumpets, Congress, Cannabis and Crypto: Top 10 Issues for Financial Services in 2019 - Part 2, NextGen Financial Services Report

Cryptocurrency vs. Initial Coin Offerings (ICO): Different Animals, Different Regulatory Concerns, NextGen Financial Services Report

EMV Adoption Mandated by the US Federal Government, E-Finance & Payments Law & Policy

EMV deadline passes in US with many not migrated over, E-Finance & Payments Law & Policy

EU-U.S. Privacy Shield - Recent Challenges: Impact on the U.S. and What Businesses Need to Know, World Data Protection Report

Fintech-Forward: U.S. Treasury Department's Report on Nonbank Financials, Fintech, and Innovation, NextGen Financial Services Report

How & Why Smart Systems Present New Legal Challenges, Texas CEO Magazine

Incivility and Sanctions, by Erin F. Fonte, for the State Bar of Texas Advanced Civil Trial Course, Advanced Personal Injury Course and Business Torts Course

Legal Issues With Mobile Payments, Author, Texas Lawyer

Looking Ahead to the US FinTech Regulatory Landscape for 2017, Payments & FinTech Lawyer

Mobile Payments Becomes Patent Battleground, Mobile Payments Today

Mobile payments inviting plenty of regulatory scrutiny, Mobile Payments Today

Mobile payments start-ups: the need to know legal landscape, E-Finance & Payment Law & Policy

Mobile Wallets/Mobile Payments and Peer-to-Peer Payments, Chapter 4, Electronic Payment Systems: Law and Emerging Technologies

Of Hal, Skynet and iRobot, Texas CEO Magazine

Overview of Mobile Payments in the United States, Banking & Financial Services Policy Report

Proposed federal cybersecurity legislation, Inside Counsel

The rise of patent lawsuits in the mobile payments arena, E-Finance & Payments Law & Policy

The US may be Forced to Accelerate EMV Adoption, E-Finance & Payments Law & Policy

The US OCC holds forum on innovation in banking system, E-Finance & Payments Law & Policy

Top 10 Tech Issues for Regional and Community Banks

Top Business Risks for Cloud Computing, State Bar of Texas Winter Newsletter 2015, Corporate Counsel Section

Treating ICOs and Cryptocurrencies the Same Way is an Expensive Mistake, PaymentsSource

United States (Chapter), The Financial Technology Law Review, Edition 3

United States (Chapter), The Financial Technology Law Review, Edition 4

While CFPB Leadership Fight Continues, Broader Questions Remain About Future of Consumer Financial Regulation, NextGen Financial Services Report

Why 'Compliance by Design' Must Be on Fintech's Roadmap, Bloomberg BNA Insights