Postal Banking Act
Latest action · Sep 17, 2020 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 17, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Postal Banking Act
This bill grants the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) the power to provide basic financial services, including
- low-cost, small-dollar loans, in specified amounts;
- small dollar lending servicing, which shall ensure that the customer's access to the products and the public interest is given significant consideration;
- small checking accounts and interest-bearing savings accounts in specified amounts;
- transactional and remittance services; and
- other basic financial services in the public interest.
It grants the USPS the power to set interest rates and fees for the financial instruments and products provided by the USPS that meet specified requirements.
The USPS (1) shall not be granted a bank charter or become an insured depository institution for the purpose of capital requirements; and (2) shall be subject to the provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code regarding bank deposits and collections.
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors shall transfer to the USPS such sums as necessary to carry out the services described in this bill, which shall (1) be sufficient to ensure that the products substantially decrease the number of people who do not have a bank account or use alternative financial products such as payday lending, check cashing, prepaid debt cards, and overdraft fees; and (2) be provided to the USPS through a separate account.
The Government Accountability Office shall submit to Congress an annual report that includes the demographics, number of participants, and average balances and uses for such products.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 17, 2020 to Nov 10, 2020, with 1 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Original | Sep 17, 2020 |
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Nov 10, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 17, 2020Introduced in Senate
- Sep 17, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 17, 2020Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.