II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 31

To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to extend certain consumer 

protections to international remittance transfers of funds originating 

in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2005

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. CORZINE, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. 

BINGAMAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. DODD, Mrs. BOXER,, Ms. MIKULSKI, and 

Mr. REID) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL

To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to extend certain consumer protections to international remittance 

transfers of funds originating in the United States, 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 ‘‘International Remit5 tance Consumer Protection Act of 2005’’. 
2

•S 31 IS 

1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF REMITTANCE TRANSFERS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Electronic Fund Transfer 

3 Act (15 U.S.C. 1693 et seq.) is amended—

4 (1) in section 902(b), by inserting ‘‘and remit5 tance’’ after ‘‘electronic fund’’; 

6 (2) by redesignating sections 918, 919, 920, 

7 and 921 as sections 919, 920, 921, and 922, respec8 tively; and 

9 (3) by inserting after section 917 the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 918. REMITTANCE TRANSFERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURES REQUIRED FOR REMITTANCE

12 TRANSFERS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each remittance transfer 

14 provider shall make disclosures to consumers, as 

15 specified by this section and augmented by regula16 tion of the Board. 

17 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC DISCLOSURES.—In addition to 

18 any other disclosures applicable under this title, a 

19 remittance transfer provider shall clearly and con20 spicuously disclose, in writing and in a form that the 

21 consumer may keep, to each consumer requesting a 

22 remittance transfer—

23 ‘‘(A) at the time at which the consumer 

24 makes the request, and prior to the consumer 

25 making any payment in connection with the 

26 transfer—
3

•S 31 IS 

1 ‘‘(i) the total amount of currency that 

2 will be required to be tendered by the con3 sumer in connection with the remittance 

4 transfer; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the amount of currency that will 

6 be sent to the designated recipient of the 

7 remittance transfer, using the values of the 

8 currency into which the funds will be ex9 changed; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the total remittance transfer 

11 cost, identified as the ‘Total Cost’; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) an itemization of the charges in13 cluded in clause (iii), as determined nec14 essary by the Board; and 

15 ‘‘(B) at the time at which the consumer 

16 makes payment in connection with the remit17 tance transfer, if any—

18 ‘‘(i) a receipt showing—

19 ‘‘(I) the information described in 

20 subparagraph (A); 

21 ‘‘(II) the promised date of deliv22 ery; 

23 ‘‘(III) the name and telephone 

24 number or address of the designated 

25 recipient; and 
4

•S 31 IS 

1 ‘‘(ii) a notice containing—

2 ‘‘(I) information about the rights 

3 of the consumer under this section to 

4 resolve errors; and 

5 ‘‘(II) appropriate contact infor6 mation for the remittance transfer 

7 provider and its State licensing au8 thority and Federal or State regu9 lator, as applicable. 

10 ‘‘(3) EXEMPTION AUTHORITY.—The Board 

11 may, by rule, and subject to subsection (d)(3), per12 mit a remittance transfer provider— 

13 ‘‘(A) to satisfy the requirements of para14 graph (2)(A) orally if the transaction is con15 ducted entirely by telephone; 

16 ‘‘(B) to satisfy the requirements of para17 graph (2)(B) by mailing the documents re18 quired under such paragraph to the consumer 

19 not later than 1 business day after the date on 

20 which the transaction is conducted, if the trans21 action is conducted entirely by telephone; and 

22 ‘‘(C) to satisfy the requirements of sub23 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) with 

24 1 written disclosure, but only to the extent that 

25 the information provided in accordance with 
5

•S 31 IS 

1 paragraph (2)(A) is accurate at the time at 

2 which payment is made in connection with the 

3 subject remittance transfer. 

4 ‘‘(b) FOREIGN LANGUAGE DISCLOSURES.—The dis5 closures required under this section shall be made in 

6 English and in the same languages principally used by the 

7 remittance transfer provider, or any of its agents, to ad8 vertise, solicit, or market, either orally or in writing, at 

9 that office, if other than English. 

10 ‘‘(c) REMITTANCE TRANSFER ERRORS.—

11 ‘‘(1) ERROR RESOLUTION.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a remittance trans13 fer provider receives oral or written notice from 

14 the consumer within 365 days of the promised 

15 date of delivery that an error occurred with re16 spect to a remittance transfer, including that 

17 the full amount of the funds to be remitted was 

18 not made available to the designated recipient 

19 in the foreign country, the remittance transfer 

20 provider shall resolve the error pursuant to this 

21 subsection. 

22 ‘‘(B) REMEDIES.—Not later than 90 days 

23 after the date of receipt of a notice from the 

24 consumer pursuant to subparagraph (A), the 

25 remittance transfer provider shall, as applicable
6

•S 31 IS 

1 to the error and as designated by the con2 sumer—

3 ‘‘(i) refund to the consumer the total 

4 amount of funds tendered by the consumer 

5 in connection with the remittance transfer 

6 which was not properly transmitted; 

7 ‘‘(ii) make available to the designated 

8 recipient, without additional cost to the 

9 designated recipient or to the consumer, 

10 the amount appropriate to resolve the 

11 error; 

12 ‘‘(iii) provide such other remedy, as 

13 determined appropriate by rule of the 

14 Board for the protection of consumers; or 

15 ‘‘(iv) demonstrate to the consumer 

16 that there was no error. 

17 ‘‘(2) RULES.—The Board shall establish, by 

18 rule, clear and appropriate standards for remittance 

19 transfer providers with respect to error resolution 

20 relating to remittance transfers, to protect con21 sumers from such errors. 

22 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS OF

23 LAW.—

24 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 18 AND TITLE 31

25 PROVISIONS.—A remittance transfer provider may 
7

•S 31 IS 

1 only provide remittance transfers if such provider is 

2 in compliance with the requirements of section 5330 

3 of title 31, United States Code, and section 1960 of 

4 title 18, United States Code, as applicable. 

5 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY OF THIS TITLE.—A remit6 tance transfer that is not an electronic fund trans7 fer, as defined in section 903, shall not be subject 

8 to any of sections 905 through 913. A remittance 

9 transfer that is an electronic fund transfer, as de10 fined in section 903, shall be subject to all provisions 

11 of this title that are otherwise applicable to elec12 tronic fund transfers under this title. 

13 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

14 this section shall be construed—

15 ‘‘(A) to affect the application to any trans16 action, to any remittance provider, or to any 

17 other person of any of the provisions of sub18 chapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United 

19 States Code, section 21 of the Federal Deposit 

20 Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1829b), or chapter 2 

21 of title I of Public Law 91–508 (12 U.S.C. 

22 1951–1959), or any regulations promulgated 

23 thereunder; or 

24 ‘‘(B) to cause any fund transfer that would 

25 not otherwise be treated as such under para-
8

•S 31 IS 

1 graph (2) to be treated as an electronic fund 

2 transfer, or as otherwise subject to this title, for 

3 the purposes of any of the provisions referred to 

4 in subparagraph (A) or any regulations promul5 gated thereunder. 

6 ‘‘(e) PUBLICATION OF EXCHANGE RATES.—The Sec7 retary of the Treasury shall make available to the public 

8 in electronic form, not later than noon on each business 

9 day, the dollar exchange rate for all foreign currencies, 

10 using any methodology that the Secretary determines ap11 propriate, which may include the methodology used pursu12 ant to section 613(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

13 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2363(b)). 

14 ‘‘(f) AGENTS AND SUBSIDIARIES.—A remittance 

15 transfer provider shall be liable for any violation of this 

16 section by any agent or subsidiary of that remittance 

17 transfer provider. 

18 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

19 ‘‘(1) the term ‘exchange rate fee’ means the dif20 ference between the total dollar amount transferred, 

21 valued at the exchange rate offered by the remit22 tance transfer provider, and the total dollar amount 

23 transferred, valued at the exchange rate posted by 

24 the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with 
9

•S 31 IS 

1 subsection (e) on the business day prior to the initi2 ation of the subject remittance transfer; 

3 ‘‘(2) the term ‘remittance transfer’ means the 

4 electronic (as defined in section 106(2) of the Elec5 tronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce 

6 Act (15 U.S.C. 7006(2))) transfer of funds at the 

7 request of a consumer located in any State to a per8 son in another country that is initiated by a remit9 tance transfer provider, whether or not the consumer 

10 is an account holder of the remittance transfer pro11 vider or whether or not the remittance transfer is 

12 also an electronic fund transfer, as defined in section 

13 903; 

14 ‘‘(3) the term ‘remittance transfer provider’ 

15 means any person or financial institution that pro16 vides remittance transfers on behalf of consumers in 

17 the normal course of its business, whether or not the 

18 consumer is an account holder of that person or fi19 nancial institution; 

20 ‘‘(4) the term ‘State’ means any of the several 

21 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Dis22 trict of Columbia, and any territory or possession of 

23 the United States; and 

24 ‘‘(5) the term ‘total remittance transfer cost’ 

25 means the total cost of a remittance transfer ex-
10

•S 31 IS 

1 pressed in dollars, including all fees charged by the 

2 remittance transfer provider, including the exchange 

3 rate fee.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECT ON STATE LAWS.—Section 919 of the 

5 Electronic Fund Transfer Act (12 U.S.C. 1693q) is 

6 amended—

7 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘or remit8 tance transfers (as defined in section 918)’’ after 

9 ‘‘transfers’’; and 

10 (2) in the fourth sentence, by inserting ‘‘, or re11 mittance transfer providers (as defined in section 

12 918), in the case of remittance transfers,’’ after ‘‘fi13 nancial institutions’’. 

14 SEC. 3. FEDERAL CREDIT UNION ACT AMENDMENT. 

15 Paragraph (12) of section 107 of the Federal Credit 

16 Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1757(12)) is amended to read as 

17 follows: 

18 ‘‘(12) in accordance with regulations prescribed 

19 by the Board—

20 ‘‘(A) to provide remittance transfers, as 

21 defined in section 918(h) of the Electronic 

22 Fund Transfer Act, to persons in the field of 

23 membership; and 

24 ‘‘(B) to cash checks and money orders for 

25 persons in the field of membership for a fee;’’.
11

•S 31 IS 

1 SEC. 4. AUTOMATED CLEARINGHOUSE SYSTEM. 

2 (a) EXPANSION OF SYSTEM.—The Board of Gov3 ernors of the Federal Reserve System shall work with the 

4 Federal reserve banks to expand the use of the automated 

5 clearinghouse system for remittance transfers to foreign 

6 countries, with a focus on countries that receive significant 

7 remittance transfers from the United States, based on—

8 (1) the number, volume, and sizes of such 

9 transfers; 

10 (2) the significance of the volume of such trans11 fers, relative to the external financial flows of the re12 ceiving country; and 

13 (3) the feasibility of such an expansion. 

14 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, and on April 30 

16 biannually thereafter, the Board of Governors of the Fed17 eral Reserve System shall submit a report to the Com18 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 

19 Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the 

20 House of Representatives on the status of the automated 

21 clearinghouse system and its progress in complying with 

22 the requirements of this section. 

23 SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTION PROVI24 SION OF REMITTANCE TRANSFERS. 

25 (a) PROVISION OF GUIDELINES TO INSTITUTIONS.—

26 Each of the Federal banking agencies (as defined in sec-
12

•S 31 IS 

1 tion 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act) and the Na2 tional Credit Union Administration shall provide guide3 lines to financial institutions under the jurisdiction of the 

4 agency regarding the offering of low-cost remittance trans5 fers and no-cost or low-cost basic consumer accounts, as 

6 well as agency services to remittance transfer providers. 

7 (b) CONTENT OF GUIDELINES.—Guidelines provided 

8 to financial institutions under this section shall include—

9 (1) information as to the methods of providing 

10 remittance transfer services; 

11 (2) the potential economic opportunities in pro12 viding low-cost remittance transfers; and 

13 (3) the potential value to financial institutions 

14 of broadening their financial bases to include per15 sons that use remittance transfers. 

16 (c) ASSISTANCE TO FINANCIAL LITERACY COMMIS17 SION.—The Secretary of the Treasury and each agency 

18 referred to in subsection (a) shall, as part of their duties 

19 as members of the Financial Literacy and Education Com20 mission, assist that Commission in improving the financial 

21 literacy and education of consumers who send remittances. 

22 SEC. 6. STUDY AND REPORT ON REMITTANCES. 

23 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

24 States shall conduct a study and analysis of the remit-
13

•S 31 IS 

1 tance transfer system, including an analysis of its impact 

2 on consumers. 

3 (b) AREAS OF CONSIDERATION.—The study con4 ducted under this section shall include, to the extent that 

5 information is available—

6 (1) an estimate of the total amount, in dollars, 

7 transmitted from individuals in the United States to 

8 other countries, including per country data, histor9 ical data, and any available projections concerning 

10 future remittance levels; 

11 (2) a comparison of the amount of remittance 

12 funds, in total and per country, to the amount of 

13 foreign trade, bilateral assistance, and multi-develop14 ment bank programs involving each of the subject 

15 countries; 

16 (3) an analysis of the methods used to remit 

17 the funds, with estimates of the amounts remitted 

18 through each method and descriptive statistics for 

19 each method, such as market share, median trans20 action size, and cost per transaction, including 

21 through—

22 (A) depository institutions; 

23 (B) postal money orders and other money 

24 orders; 

25 (C) automatic teller machines; 
14

•S 31 IS 

1 (D) wire transfer services; and 

2 (E) personal delivery services; 

3 (4) an analysis of advantages and disadvan4 tages of each remitting method listed in subpara5 graphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (3); 

6 (5) an analysis of the types and specificity of 

7 disclosures made by various types of remittance 

8 transaction providers to consumers who send remit9 tances; and 

10 (6) if reliable data are unavailable, rec11 ommendations concerning options for Congress to 

12 consider to improve the state of information on re13 mittances from the United States. 

14 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

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

16 General shall submit a report to the Committee on Bank17 ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the 

18 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep19 resentatives on the results of the study conducted under 

20 this section.

Æ