I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2217 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to require creditors to report the 

terms and conditions of all business, marketing, promotional agreements 

and college affinity card agreements with institutions of higher education 

and alumni organizations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2009 

Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. PETRI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act to require creditors 

to report the terms and conditions of all business, marketing, promotional agreements and college affinity card 

agreements with institutions of higher education and 

alumni organizations, 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 ‘‘Student Credit Card 

5 Transparency Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COLLEGE CREDIT CARD AGREEMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 127 of the Truth in Lend3 ing Act is amended by adding at the end the following 

4 new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(i) COLLEGE CARD AGREEMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub7 section, the following definitions shall apply: 

8 ‘‘(A) COLLEGE AFFINITY CARD.—The term 

9 ‘college affinity card’ means a credit card issued 

10 by a credit card issuer under an open end con11 sumer credit plan in conjunction with an agree12 ment between the issuer and an institution of 

13 higher education, or an alumni organization or 

14 foundation affiliated with or related to such in15 stitution, under which such cards are issued to 

16 college students who have an affinity with such 

17 institution, organization and— 

18 ‘‘(i) the creditor has agreed to donate 

19 a portion of the proceeds of the credit card 

20 to the institution, organization, or founda21 tion (including a lump sum or 1-time pay22 ment of money for access); 

23 ‘‘(ii) the creditor has agreed to offer 

24 discounted terms to the consumer; or 

25 ‘‘(iii) the credit card bears the name, 

26 emblem, mascot, or logo of such instituVerDate Nov 24 2008 18:05 May 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2217.IH H2217

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1 tion, organization, or foundation, or other 

2 words, pictures, or symbols readily identi3 fied with such institution, organization, or 

4 foundation. 

5 ‘‘(B) COLLEGE STUDENT CREDIT CARD AC6 COUNT.—The term ‘college student credit card 

7 account’ means a credit card account under an 

8 open end consumer credit plan established or 

9 maintained for or on behalf of any college stu10 dent. 

11 ‘‘(C) COLLEGE STUDENT.—The term ‘col12 lege student’ means an individual who is a full13 time or a part-time student attending an insti14 tution of higher education. 

15 ‘‘(D) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU16 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu17 cation’ has the same meaning as in section 101 

18 and 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

19 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

20 ‘‘(2) REPORTS BY CREDITORS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each creditor shall 

22 submit an annual report to the Board con23 taining the terms and conditions of all business, 

24 marketing, and promotional agreements and 

25 college affinity card agreements with an instituVerDate Nov 24 2008 18:05 May 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2217.IH H2217

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1 tion of higher education, or an alumni organiza2 tion or foundation affiliated with or related to 

3 such institution, with respect to any college stu4 dent credit card issued to a college student at 

5 such institution. 

6 ‘‘(B) DETAILS OF REPORT.—The informa7 tion required to be reported under subpara8 graph (A) includes— 

9 ‘‘(i) any memorandum of under10 standing between or among a creditor, an 

11 institution of higher education, an alumni 

12 association, or foundation that directly or 

13 indirectly relates to any aspect of any 

14 agreement referred to in such subpara15 graph or controls or directs any obligations 

16 or distribution of benefits between or 

17 among any such entities; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the amount of payments from 

19 the creditor to the institution, organiza20 tion, or foundation during the period cov21 ered by the report, and the precise terms 

22 of any agreement under which such 

23 amounts are determined; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) the number of credit card ac25 counts covered by any such agreement that 


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1 were opened during the period covered by 

2 the report and the total number of credit 

3 card accounts covered by the agreement 

4 that were outstanding at the end of such 

5 period. 

6 ‘‘(C) AGGREGATION BY INSTITUTION.— 

7 The information reported under subparagraph 

8 (A) shall be aggregated with respect to each in9 stitution of higher education or alumni organi10 zation or foundation affiliated with or related to 

11 such institution. 

12 ‘‘(3) REPORTS BY BOARD.—The Board shall 

13 submit to the Congress, and make available to the 

14 public, an annual report that lists the information 

15 concerning credit card agreements submitted to the 

16 Board under paragraph (2) by each institution of 

17 higher education, alumni organization, or founda18 tion.’’. 

19 (b) STUDY AND REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER

20 GENERAL.— 

21 (1) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the 

22 United States shall from time to time review the re23 ports submitted by creditors and the marketing 

24 practices of creditors to determine the impact that 


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1 college affinity card agreements and college student 

2 card agreements have on credit card debt. 

3 (2) REPORT.—Upon completion of any study 

4 under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall 

5 periodically submit a report to the Congress on the 

6 findings and conclusions of the study, together with 

7 such recommendations for administrative or legisla8 tive action as the Comptroller General determines to 

9 be appropriate. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR INITIAL CREDITOR RE11 PORTS.—The initial reports required under paragraph 

12 (2)(A) of the amendment made by subsection (a) shall be 

13 submitted to the Board of Governors of the Federal Re14 serve System before the end of the 90-day period begin15 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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