II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 656 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain issues relating to 

the extension of consumer credit, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. UDALL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. 

SANDERS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

CARDIN, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to address certain 

issues relating to the extension of consumer credit, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Abuse and 

5 Fraud in Electronic Lending Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 

6 Lending Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONSUMER CONTROL OVER BANK ACCOUNTS. 

2 (a) PROHIBITING UNAUTHORIZED REMOTELY CRE3 ATED CHECKS.—Section 905 of the Electronic Fund 

4 Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693c) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON REMOTELY CREATED

7 CHECKS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection— 

9 ‘‘(A) the term ‘remotely created check’ 

10 means a check, including a paper or electronic 

11 check and any other payment order that the 

12 Bureau, by rule, determines is appropriately 

13 covered under this subsection, that— 

14 ‘‘(i) is not created by the financial in15 stitution that holds the customer account 

16 from which the check is to be paid; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) does not bear a signature ap18 plied, or purported to be applied, by the 

19 person from whose account the check is to 

20 be paid; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the term ‘Federal consumer financial 

22 law’ has the meaning given the term in section 

23 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 

24 of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481). 

25 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—Subject to the limitations 

26 in paragraph (3) and any additional limitations that 


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1 the Bureau may establish, by rule, a remotely cre2 ated check may only be issued by a person des3 ignated in writing by a consumer, with that written 

4 designation specifically provided by the consumer to 

5 the insured depository institution at which the con6 sumer maintains the account from which the check 

7 is to be drawn. 

8 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A designation pro10 vided by a consumer under paragraph (2) may 

11 be revoked at any time by the consumer. 

12 ‘‘(B) CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

13 LAWS.—No payment order, including a re14 motely created check, may be issued by any per15 son in response to the exercise of, or attempt to 

16 exercise, any right by a consumer under— 

17 ‘‘(i) any Federal consumer financial 

18 law; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) any other provision of any law or 

20 regulation within the jurisdiction of the 

21 Bureau.’’. 

22 (b) CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR CERTAIN ONE23 TIME ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS.—Section 913 of 

24 the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693k) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

2 inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before ‘‘No person’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (a)(1), as so designated, by 

4 striking ‘‘preauthorized electronic fund transfers’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘an electronic fund transfer’’; and 

6 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT FOR ELECTRONIC FUND TRANS8 FERS IN CREDIT EXTENSIONS.—If a consumer voluntarily 

9 agrees to repay an extension of a small-dollar consumer 

10 credit transaction, as defined in section 110(a) of the 

11 Truth in Lending Act, by means of an electronic fund 

12 transfer, the electronic fund transfer shall be treated as 

13 a preauthorized electronic fund transfer subject to the pro14 tections of this title.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT 

16 IN SMALL-DOLLAR LENDING. 

17 (a) SMALL-DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANS18 ACTIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Truth in Lending Act 

20 (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended— 

21 (A) by inserting after section 109 (15 

22 U.S.C. 1608) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 110. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT FOR SMALL-DOL2 LAR LENDERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘small4 dollar consumer credit transaction’— 

5 ‘‘(1) means any transaction that extends credit 

6 that is— 

7 ‘‘(A) made to a consumer in an amount 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(i) is not more than— 

10 ‘‘(I) $5,000; or 

11 ‘‘(II) such greater amount as the 

12 Bureau may, by rule, determine; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) shall be adjusted annually to re14 flect changes in the Consumer Price Index 

15 for all urban consumers published by the 

16 Department of Labor; and 

17 ‘‘(B) extended pursuant to an agreement 

18 that is— 

19 ‘‘(i)(I) other than an open end credit 

20 plan; and 

21 ‘‘(II) payable in 1 or more install22 ments of less than 12 months (or such 

23 longer period as the Bureau may, by rule, 

24 determine); 

25 ‘‘(ii) an open end credit plan in which 

26 each advance is fully repayable within a 


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1 defined time or in connection with a de2 fined event, or both; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) any other plan as the Bureau 

4 determines, by rule; and 

5 ‘‘(2) includes any action that facilitates, bro6 kers, arranges, or gathers applications for a trans7 action described in paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(b) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT.—A person shall 

9 register with the Bureau before issuing credit in a small10 dollar consumer credit transaction.’’; and 

11 (B) in section 173 (15 U.S.C. 1666j), by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, 

14 any small-dollar consumer credit transaction, as defined 

15 in section 110(a), shall comply with the laws of the State 

16 in which the consumer to which credit in the transaction 

17 is extended resides with respect to annual percentage 

18 rates, interest, fees, charges, and such other similar or re19 lated matters as the Bureau may, by rule, determine if 

20 the small-dollar consumer credit transaction is— 

21 ‘‘(1) made— 

22 ‘‘(A) over the Internet; 

23 ‘‘(B) by telephone; 

24 ‘‘(C) by facsimile; 

25 ‘‘(D) by mail; 


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1 ‘‘(E) by electronic mail; or 

2 ‘‘(F) through another electronic commu3 nication; or 

4 ‘‘(2) conducted by a national bank.’’. 

5 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND6 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 1 of the 

7 Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is 

8 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec9 tion 109 the following: 

‘‘110. Registration requirement for small-dollar lenders.’’. 

10 (b) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN FEES.—Section 915 

11 of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693l– 

12 1) is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub14 section (e); and 

15 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL FEES PROHIBITED.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

19 ‘prepaid account’ has the meaning given the term by 

20 rule of the Bureau. 

21 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—With respect to the use of 

22 a prepaid account by a consumer— 

23 ‘‘(A) it shall be unlawful for any person to 

24 charge the consumer a fee for an overdraft with 

25 respect to the prepaid account, including a 


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1 shortage of funds or a transaction processed for 

2 an amount exceeding the account balance of the 

3 prepaid account; 

4 ‘‘(B) any transaction for an amount that 

5 exceeds the account balance of the prepaid ac6 count may be declined, except that the con7 sumer may not be charged a fee for that pur8 pose; and 

9 ‘‘(C) the Bureau may, by rule, prohibit the 

10 charging of any fee so that the Bureau may— 

11 ‘‘(i) prevent unfair, deceptive, or abu12 sive practices; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) promote the ability of the con14 sumer to understand and compare the 

15 costs of prepaid accounts.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL17 DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend19 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding 

20 at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 140B. RESTRICTIONS ON LEAD GENERATION IN 

22 SMALL-DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANS23 ACTIONS. 

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘Internet access service’ and 

2 ‘Internet information location tool’ have the mean3 ings given those terms in section 231(e) of the Com4 munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)); 

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘sensitive personal financial infor6 mation’ means a social security number, financial 

7 account number, bank routing number, bank ac8 count number, or security or access code that is im9 mediately necessary to permit access to the financial 

10 account of an individual; and 

11 ‘‘(3) the term ‘small-dollar consumer credit 

12 transaction’ has the meaning given the term in sec13 tion 110(a). 

14 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION.—Any person 

15 facilitating, brokering, arranging for, or gathering applica16 tions for the distribution of sensitive personal financial in17 formation in connection with a small-dollar consumer 

18 credit transaction shall prominently disclose information 

19 by which the person may be contacted or identified, includ20 ing for service of process and for identification of the reg21 istrant of any domain name registered or used. 

22 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON LEAD GENERATION IN SMALL23 DOLLAR CONSUMER CREDIT TRANSACTIONS.—No person 

24 may facilitate, broker, arrange for, or gather applications 

25 for the distribution of sensitive personal financial informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S656.IS S656

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1 tion in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit 

2 transaction unless the person is directly providing the 

3 small-dollar consumer credit to a consumer. 

4 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section 

6 may be construed to limit the authority of the Bu7 reau to further restrict activities covered by this sec8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION.—For the purposes of this 

10 section, it shall not be considered facilitating the dis11 tribution of sensitive personal financial information 

12 in connection with a small-dollar consumer credit 

13 transaction to be engaged solely in one of the fol14 lowing activities: 

15 ‘‘(A) The provision of a telecommuni16 cations service, an Internet access service, or an 

17 Internet information location tool. 

18 ‘‘(B) The transmission, storage, retrieval, 

19 hosting, formatting, or translation (or any com20 bination thereof) of a communication, without 

21 selection or alteration of the content of the 

22 communication, except the deletion of a par23 ticular communication or material made by an24 other person in a manner that is consistent 


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1 with section 230(c) of the Communications Act 

2 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(c)).’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

4 The table of sections for chapter 2 of the Truth in Lend5 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1631 et seq.) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

‘‘140B. Restrictions on lead generation in small-dollar consumer credit transactions.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. STUDIES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 (1) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con10 gress’’ means— 

11 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

12 and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

13 (B) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 

14 Senate; 

15 (C) the Committee on Financial Services of 

16 the House of Representatives; and 

17 (D) the Committee on Natural Resources 

18 of the House of Representatives; and 

19 (2) the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the meaning 

20 given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter21 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

22 5304). 

23 (b) STUDY REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 


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1 General of the United States shall conduct a study regard2 ing— 

3 (1) the availability of capital on reservations of 

4 Indian tribes; and 

5 (2) the impact that small-dollar consumer credit 

6 extended through internet and non-internet means 

7 to members of Indian tribes has had on economic 

8 opportunity and wealth for members of Indian 

9 tribes. 

10 (c) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study re11 quired under subsection (b), the Comptroller General of 

12 the United States shall consult, as appropriate, with— 

13 (1) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec14 tion; 

15 (2) the Board of Governors of the Federal Re16 serve System; 

17 (3) the Director of the Bureau of Indian Af18 fairs; 

19 (4) federally recognized Indian tribes; and 

20 (5) community development financial institu21 tions operating in Indian lands. 

22 (d) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION.—The Comp23 troller General of the United States shall submit to the 

24 appropriate committees of Congress the study required 

25 under subsection (b). 


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1 SEC. 6. RULEMAKING. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

4 shall adopt any final rules that are necessary to implement 

5 the provisions of this Act and the amendments made by 

6 this Act. 

Æ 


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