II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4614 

To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide that the United States 

Postal Service may provide certain basic financial services, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 39, United States Code, to provide that 

the United States Postal Service may provide certain 

basic financial services, 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 ‘‘Postal Banking Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR THE POSTAL SERVICE TO OFFER 

6 CERTAIN FINANCIAL SERVICES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(a) of title 39, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

6 ‘‘(9) to provide basic financial services, includ7 ing— 

8 ‘‘(A) low-cost, small-dollar loans, not to ex9 ceed $500 at a time, or $1,000 from 1 year of 

10 the issuance of the initial loan, as adjusted an11 nually by the Postmaster General to reflect any 

12 change in the Consumer Price Index for All 

13 Urban Consumers of the Department of Labor; 

14 ‘‘(B) small dollar lending servicing, which 

15 shall ensure that the customer’s access to the 

16 products and the public interest is given signifi17 cant consideration; and 

18 ‘‘(C) small checking accounts and interest19 bearing savings accounts, not to exceed the 

20 greater of— 

21 ‘‘(i) $20,000 per account; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) 25 percent of the median account 

23 balance reported in the Federal Deposit 

24 Insurance Corporation’s quarterly Consoli25 dated Reports of Condition and Income; 


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1 ‘‘(D) transactional services, including debit 

2 cards, automated teller machines, online check3 ing accounts, check-cashing services, automatic 

4 bill-pay, mobile banking, or other products or 

5 partnerships that allow users to engage in the 

6 financial services described in this paragraph; 

7 ‘‘(E) remittance services, including the re8 ceiving and sending of money to domestic or 

9 foreign recipients; and 

10 ‘‘(F) such other basic financial services as 

11 the Postal Service determines appropriate in 

12 the public interest; 

13 ‘‘(10) to set interest rates and fees for the fi14 nancial instruments and products provided by the 

15 Postal Service that— 

16 ‘‘(A) ensures that the customer access to 

17 the products and the public interest is given 

18 significant consideration; 

19 ‘‘(B) ensures that interest rates on savings 

20 accounts are at least 100 percent of the Federal 

21 Deposit Insurance Corporation’s weekly na22 tional rate on nonjumbo savings accounts; and 

23 ‘‘(C) ensures that the total interest rates 

24 on small-dollar loan amounts— 


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1 ‘‘(i) are inclusive of interest, fees, 

2 charges, and ancillary products and serv3 ices; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) do not exceed 101 percent of the 

5 Treasury 1 month constant maturity rate; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(11) to provide all financial products and serv8 ices in subsection (a) exclusively, ensuring that the 

9 customer’s access to the products and the public in10 terest is given significant consideration, and not 

11 through a partnership or contract with private insti12 tutions, including insured depository institutions.’’. 

13 (b) NO BANK CHARTER.—The United States Postal 

14 Service shall not be granted a bank charter, become an 

15 insured depository institution, as defined in section 3 of 

16 the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813), for 

17 the purpose of capital requirements. 

18 (c) UCC.—The United States Postal Service shall be 

19 subject to the provisions of article 4 of the Uniform Com20 mercial Code. 

21 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Postmaster General, in con22 sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Bureau 

23 of Consumer Financial Protection, and the Federal bank24 ing agencies, shall promulgate regulations carrying out 

25 this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 


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1 (e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 404(e)(2) of title 39, 

3 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not 

5 apply to any financial service offered by the Postal 

6 Service under subsection (a)(9).’’. 

7 (2) FEDERAL RESERVE ACT.—Section 11 of the 

8 Federal Reserve Act is amended— 

9 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 

10 (s) (relating to assessments, fees, and other 

11 charges for certain companies) as subsection 

12 (t); and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(u) FUNDING FOR POSTAL FINANCIAL SERVICES.— 

15 The Board, in consultation with the Chairman of the 

16 Board and the Postmaster General, shall transfer to the 

17 Postmaster General such sums as may be necessary to 

18 carry out the services described in section 404(a)(9) of 

19 title 39, United States Code, which shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) be sufficient to ensure that the products 

21 described in that section shall substantially decrease 

22 the number of people who do not have a bank ac23 count or use alternative financial products such as 

24 payday lending, check cashing, prepaid debt cards, 

25 and overdraft fees; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) be provided to the Postmaster General 

2 through of an account separate from products not 

3 included or allowed under section 404 of that title.’’. 

4 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The services offered 

5 by the United States Postal Service under section 404 of 

6 title 39, United States Code— 

7 (1) shall be considered permissible non-banking 

8 activities in accordance with section 225.28 of title 

9 12, Code of Federal Regulations; and 

10 (2) shall not be considered the business of 

11 banking under the seventh paragraph of section 

12 5136 of the Revised Statutes (12 U.S.C. 24). 

13 (g) GAO REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

14 United States shall submit to Congress an annual report 

15 that includes the demographics, number of participants, 

16 and average balances and uses for all products described 

17 in paragraphs (9) and (10) of section 404(a) of title 39, 

18 United States Code, as added by subsection (a) of this 

19 section. 

Æ 


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