Payment Choice Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1984 To ensure that United States currency is treated as legal tender to be accepted as payment for purchases of goods and services at brick-and- mortar businesses throughout the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Hous- ing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To ensure that United States currency is treated as legal tender to be accepted as payment for purchases of goods and services at brick-and-mortar businesses throughout the United States, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Payment Choice Act 4 of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that United States cur- 7 rency should be treated as legal tender throughout the 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1984 IS United States, and that every consumer should have the 1 right to use cash as payment at retail businesses that ac- 2 cept in-person payments. 3 SEC. 3. RETAIL BUSINESSES PROHIBITED FROM REFUSING 4 CASH PAYMENTS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 51 of title 6 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 7 the following: 8 ‘‘§ 5104. Retail businesses prohibited from refusing 9 cash payments 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person engaged in the busi- 11 ness of selling or offering goods or services at retail to 12 the public who accepts in-person payments at a physical 13 location (including a person accepting payments for tele- 14 phone, mail, or internet-based transactions who is accept- 15 ing in-person payments at a physical location)— 16 ‘‘(1) shall accept cash as a form of payment for 17 sales made at such physical location in amounts up 18 to and including $500 per transaction; and 19 ‘‘(2) may not charge cash-paying customers a 20 higher price compared to the price charged to cus- 21 tomers not paying with cash. 22 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall not 24 apply to a person if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1984 IS ‘‘(A) the person is unable to accept cash 1 because of— 2 ‘‘(i) a sale system failure that tempo- 3 rarily prevents the processing of cash pay- 4 ments; or 5 ‘‘(ii) temporarily having insufficient 6 cash on hand to make change; or 7 ‘‘(B)(i) the person provides customers with 8 a device that converts cash into prepaid cards 9 on the premises; 10 ‘‘(ii) there is no fee for the use of the de- 11 vice; 12 ‘‘(iii) the device does not require a min- 13 imum deposit of more than one dollar; 14 ‘‘(iv) any funds placed onto a prepaid card 15 using the device do not expire, except as per- 16 mitted under paragraph (2); 17 ‘‘(v) the device does not collect any per- 18 sonal identifying information from the cus- 19 tomer; and 20 ‘‘(vi) there is no fee to use the prepaid 21 card that the device produces. 22 ‘‘(2) INACTIVITY.—A person seeking exception 23 from subsection (a) may charge an inactivity fee in 24 association with a card offered by such person if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1984 IS ‘‘(A) there has been no activity with re- 1 spect to the card during the 12-month period 2 ending on the date on which the inactivity fee 3 is imposed; 4 ‘‘(B) not more than 1 inactivity fee is im- 5 posed in any 1-month period; and 6 ‘‘(C) it is clearly and conspicuously stated, 7 on the face of the mechanism that issues the 8 card and on the card— 9 ‘‘(i) that an inactivity fee or charge 10 may be imposed; 11 ‘‘(ii) the frequency at which such inac- 12 tivity fee may be imposed; and 13 ‘‘(iii) the amount of such inactivity 14 fee. 15 ‘‘(c) RIGHT TO NOT ACCEPT LARGE BILLS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 17 (a), for the 5-year period beginning on the date of 18 enactment of this section, this section shall not re- 19 quire a person to accept cash payments in $50 bills 20 or any larger bill. 21 ‘‘(2) RULEMAKING.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 23 issue a rule on the date that is 5 years after the 24 date of the enactment of this section with re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1984 IS spect to any bill denominations a person is not 1 required to accept. 2 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—When issuing a rule 3 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall re- 4 quire persons to accept $1, $5, $10 and $20 5 bills. 6 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.— 7 ‘‘(1) PREVENTATIVE RELIEF.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever any person 9 has engaged, or there are reasonable grounds to 10 believe that any person is about to engage, in 11 any act or practice prohibited by this section, 12 any customer or prospective customer of such 13 person aggrieved by such violation or threat- 14 ened violation may deliver to the retailer, or 15 cause to be so delivered by certified mail, with 16 proof of delivery, a notice describing, in reason- 17 able detail, the conduct or events constituting 18 the violation or threatened violation, and giving 19 notice that, unless such conduct is corrected or 20 cured within 45 days after the date of delivery 21 of such notice, a civil action for preventative re- 22 lief, including an application for a permanent or 23 temporary injunction, restraining order, or 24 other appropriate such relief, which may include 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1984 IS a civil penalty under paragraph (2), may be 1 brought against such person. 2 ‘‘(B) NO VIOLATION.—If, within the 45- 3 day period under subparagraph (A), the retailer 4 establishes to the reasonable satisfaction of the 5 customer, in a response provided in writing to 6 the customer, that no violation occurred as al- 7 leged, or certifies that the violation alleged has 8 been corrected or cured, and provides reason- 9 able assurance that no such violation will be 10 permitted to occur, no further proceedings 11 under this section shall be undertaken. 12 ‘‘(C) FAILURE TO RESPOND.—If a retailer, 13 having received a notice described in subpara- 14 graph (A), fails to respond in accordance with 15 that subparagraph, or responds but fails to rea- 16 sonably establish that the violation alleged did 17 not occur or has been corrected or cured, the 18 aggrieved customer may file a civil action 19 against the retailer seeking relief under this 20 subsection, and shall attach to the complaint in 21 such action copies of the notice given to the re- 22 tailer and any response from the retailer. 23 ‘‘(2) DAMAGES AND CIVIL PENALTIES.—Any 24 person who violates this section shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1984 IS ‘‘(A) be liable for actual damages, and, if 1 actual damages are less than $250, liquidated 2 damages of $250; and 3 ‘‘(B) a civil penalty of not more than $500 4 for a first offense and not more than $1,500 for 5 a second or subsequent offense. 6 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION.—An action under this sec- 7 tion may be brought in any United States district 8 court, or in any other court of competent jurisdic- 9 tion. 10 ‘‘(4) INTERVENTION OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 11 Upon timely application, a court may, in its discre- 12 tion, permit the Attorney General to intervene in a 13 civil action brought under this subsection, if the At- 14 torney General certifies that the action is of general 15 public importance. 16 ‘‘(5) AUTHORITY TO APPOINT COURT-PAID AT- 17 TORNEY.—Upon application by an individual and in 18 such circumstances as the court may determine just, 19 the court may appoint an attorney for such indi- 20 vidual and may authorize the commencement of a 21 civil action under this subsection without the pay- 22 ment of fees, costs, or security. 23 ‘‘(6) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In any action com- 24 menced pursuant to this section, the court, in its 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1984 IS discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other 1 than the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee, 2 not to exceed $3,000, as part of the costs, and the 3 United States shall be liable for costs the same as 4 a private person. 5 ‘‘(7) REQUIREMENTS IN CERTAIN STATES AND 6 LOCAL AREAS.—In the case of an alleged act or 7 practice prohibited by this section which occurs in a 8 State, or political subdivision of a State, which has 9 a State or local law prohibiting such act or practice 10 and establishing or authorizing a State or local au- 11 thority to grant or seek relief from such act or prac- 12 tice or to institute criminal proceedings with respect 13 thereto upon receiving notice thereof, no civil action 14 may be brought hereunder before the expiration of 15 30 days after written notice of such alleged act or 16 practice has been given to the appropriate State or 17 local authority by registered mail or in person, pro- 18 vided that the court may stay proceedings in such 19 civil action pending the termination of State or local 20 enforcement proceedings. 21 ‘‘(e) GREATER PROTECTION UNDER STATE LAW.— 22 This section shall not preempt any law of a State, the Dis- 23 trict of Columbia, a Tribal government, or a territory of 24 the United States if the protections that such law affords 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1984 IS to consumers are greater than the protections provided 1 under this section. 2 ‘‘(f) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary shall issue such 3 rules as the Secretary determines are necessary to imple- 4 ment this section, which may prescribe additional excep- 5 tions to the application of the requirements described in 6 subsection (a). 7 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL REPORTS ON THE GEOGRAPHIC DIS- 8 TRIBUTION OF AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINES OWNED 9 BY FEDERALLY INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS.— 10 Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the date of 11 enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 12 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with respect to 13 depository institutions insured by the Corporation, and the 14 National Credit Union Administration, with respect to 15 credit unions insured by the National Credit Union Share 16 Insurance Fund, shall submit to the Committee on Bank- 17 ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the 18 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep- 19 resentatives a report that provides— 20 ‘‘(1) the number of automated teller machines 21 owned and in service by each institution insured by 22 such agency; 23 ‘‘(2) the location of each such automated teller 24 machine that is installed at a fixed site; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1984 IS ‘‘(3) the approximate geographic range or ra- 1 dius within which mobile automated teller machines 2 owned by any such institution are deployed.’’. 3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 4 The table of contents for chapter 51 of title 31, United 5 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat- 6 ing to section 5103 the following: 7 ‘‘5104. Retail businesses prohibited from refusing cash payments.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1984.IS S1984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS