Financial Inclusion in Banking Act of 2021

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1711 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 19, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs AN ACT To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to direct the Office of Community Affairs to identify causes leading to, and solutions for, under-banked, un- banked, and underserved consumers, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1711.RFS H1711 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1711 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Inclusion 2 in Banking Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS DUTIES WITH RE- 4 SPECT TO UNDER-BANKED, UN-BANKED, AND 5 UNDERSERVED CONSUMERS. 6 Section 1013(b)(2) of the Consumer Financial Pro- 7 tection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(b)(2)) is amended— 8 (1) by striking ‘‘The Director shall establish a 9 unit’’ and inserting the following: 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es- 11 tablish a unit to be known as the ‘Office of 12 Community Affairs’ ’’; and 13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(B) DUTIES RELATED TO UNDER- 15 BANKED, UN-BANKED, AND UNDERSERVED 16 CONSUMERS.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Office of 18 Community Affairs shall— 19 ‘‘(I) lead coordination of research 20 to identify any causes and challenges 21 contributing to the decision of individ- 22 uals who, and households that, do not 23 initiate or maintain on-going and sus- 24 tainable relationships with depository 25 institutions, including consulting with 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1711.RFS H1711 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1711 RFS trade associations representing deposi- 1 tory institutions, trade associations 2 representing minority depository insti- 3 tutions, organizations representing the 4 interests of traditionally underserved 5 consumers and communities, organi- 6 zations representing the interests of 7 consumers (particularly low- and mod- 8 erate-income individuals), civil rights 9 groups, community groups, consumer 10 advocates, and the Consumer Advisory 11 Board about this matter; 12 ‘‘(II) identify subject matter ex- 13 perts within the Bureau to work on 14 the issues identified under subclause 15 (I); 16 ‘‘(III) lead coordination efforts 17 between other Federal departments 18 and agencies to better assess the rea- 19 sons for the lack of, and help increase 20 the participation of, under-banked, 21 un-banked, and underserved con- 22 sumers in the banking system; and 23 ‘‘(IV) identify and develop strate- 24 gies to increase financial education to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1711.RFS H1711 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1711 RFS under-banked, un-banked, and under- 1 served consumers. 2 ‘‘(ii) COORDINATION WITH OTHER BU- 3 REAU OFFICES.—In carrying out this para- 4 graph, the Office of Community Affairs 5 shall consult with and coordinate with the 6 research unit established under subsection 7 (b)(1) and such other offices of the Bureau 8 as the Director may determine appropriate. 9 ‘‘(iii) REPORTING.— 10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Office of 11 Community Affairs shall submit a re- 12 port to Congress, within two years of 13 the date of enactment of this subpara- 14 graph and every 2 years thereafter, 15 that identifies any factors impeding 16 the ability of, or limiting the option 17 for, individuals or households to have 18 access to fair, on-going, and sustain- 19 able relationships with depository in- 20 stitutions to meet their financial 21 needs, discusses any regulatory, legal, 22 or structural barriers to enhancing 23 participation of under-banked, un- 24 banked, and underserved consumers 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1711.RFS H1711 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1711 RFS with depository institutions, and con- 1 tains recommendations to promote 2 better participation for all consumers 3 with the banking system. 4 ‘‘(II) TIMING OF REPORT.—To 5 the extent possible, the Office shall 6 submit each report required under 7 subclause (I) during a year in which 8 the Federal Deposit Insurance Cor- 9 poration does not issue the report on 10 encouraging use of depository institu- 11 tions by the unbanked required under 12 section 49 of the Federal Deposit In- 13 surance Act.’’. 14 SEC. 3. DISCRETIONARY SURPLUS FUNDS. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The dollar amount specified 16 under section 7(a)(3)(A) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 17 U.S.C. 289(a)(3)(A)) is reduced by $10,000,000. 18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 19 subsection (a) shall take effect on September 30, 2031. 20 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 21 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 22 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 23 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 24 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1711.RFS H1711 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1711 RFS Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 1 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 2 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 3 vote on passage. 4 Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1711.RFS H1711 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS