Municipal IDs Acceptance Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3968 To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Crimes Enforce- ment Network, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the United States Department of the Treasury to update guidance on customer identification regulations with respect to the use of identification cards issued by a municipality, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. TORRES of New York (for himself, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. MEEKS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. NADLER, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. MENG, Mr. JEFFRIES, and Mr. BOWMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comp- troller of the Currency, and the United States Depart- ment of the Treasury to update guidance on customer identification regulations with respect to the use of iden- tification cards issued by a municipality, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3968.IH H3968 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3968 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Municipal IDs Accept- 4 ance Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Current law and regulations require certain 8 financial institutions, including depository institu- 9 tions, savings associations, and credit unions, to 10 have a Customer Identification Program to identify 11 customers who wish to open accounts. 12 (2) A financial institution must have risk-based 13 procedures for evaluating new customers that allow 14 the financial institution to form a reasonable belief 15 that the financial institution knows the true identity 16 of the customer. 17 (3) Guidance on the Consumer Identification 18 Program has not been updated since the staff of the 19 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Financial 21 Crimes Enforcement Network, National Credit 22 Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of 23 the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, and the 24 United States Department of the Treasury (in this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3968.IH H3968 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3968 IH section referred to as ‘‘the Agencies’’) issued ‘‘Inter- 1 agency Interpretive Guidance on Customer Identi- 2 fication Program Requirements under Section 326 3 of the USA PATRIOT Act, 2005 FAQs’’. 4 (4) Over the last decade more than two dozen 5 cities and counties in the United States have insti- 6 tuted municipal identification programs, issuing a 7 form of identification to residents who typically do 8 not have driver’s licenses, including young people, 9 the elderly, homeless residents, and immigrants. 10 (5) Municipal identification programs help vul- 11 nerable populations access private and public serv- 12 ices, including library services, utility accounts, food, 13 medical care, and housing assistance. 14 (6) While the Agencies have issued statements 15 about the use of municipal identification for con- 16 sumer identification, many financial institutions 17 have been hesitant to incorporate municipal identi- 18 fication into the Consumer Identification Programs, 19 limiting access to banking for underserved popu- 20 lations. 21 (7) It is important for the Agencies to clarify, 22 in guidance, that financial institutions may accept 23 municipal identification to establish a customer’s 24 identity if such identification enables the bank to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3968.IH H3968 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3968 IH form a reasonable belief that the bank knows the 1 true identity of the customer. 2 SEC. 3. UPDATING GUIDANCE ON CUSTOMER IDENTIFICA- 3 TION REGULATIONS. 4 The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys- 5 tem, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Fi- 6 nancial Crimes Enforcement Network, the National Credit 7 Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the 8 Currency, and the Department of the Treasury shall up- 9 date the guidance titled ‘‘Guidance on Customer Identi- 10 fication Regulations Financial Crimes Enforcement Net- 11 work FAQs: Final CIP Rule’’ issued on January 8, 2004, 12 to state that an identification card issued by a munici- 13 pality may be used by a bank to verify the identity of a 14 customer if such identification card enables the bank to 15 form a reasonable belief that the bank knows the true 16 identity of the customer. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:08 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3968.IH H3968 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS