II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1741 

To direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) to carry out a 

pilot program to develop innovative consumer financial products that 

encourage savings and wealth-creation among members of the Armed 

Forces on active duty. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2013 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) to 

carry out a pilot program to develop innovative consumer 

financial products that encourage savings and wealthcreation among members of the Armed Forces on active 

duty. 

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 ‘‘Military Savings Act 

5 of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PRODUCTS PILOT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of Defense 

4 (Comptroller) shall carry out a 5-year pilot program to 

5 develop innovative consumer financial products that en6 courage savings and wealth-creation among members of 

7 the Armed Forces on active duty. 

8 (b) OBJECTIVES.—Financial products developed 

9 under this section may be designed to— 

10 (1) increase the rate of savings among members 

11 of the Armed Forces on active duty by providing 

12 automatic deposit into a savings account of special 

13 pay and allowances received by such a member, in14 cluding special pay and allowances received on ac15 count of the deployment of the member; 

16 (2) reduce the need for high-cost short-term 

17 lending services by providing alternatives to mem18 bers of the Armed Forces on active duty, such as fi19 nancial institutions providing an option for such 

20 members to receive advances on their salary pay21 ments— 

22 (A) in a manner that permits such mem23 bers to receive pay in more frequent install24 ments; and 

25 (B) under which any interest or fees on 

26 such advances— 


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1 (i) does not exceed the rate described 

2 in section 987(b) of title 10, United States 

3 Code; and 

4 (ii) adheres to the Affordable Small5 Dollar Loan Guidelines of the Federal De6 posit Insurance Corporation; 

7 (3) address obstacles to traditional consumer 

8 banking and lending for members of the Armed 

9 Forces with limited credit history; and 

10 (4) otherwise encourage savings and wealth-cre11 ation among members of the Armed Forces on active 

12 duty. 

13 (c) NO EXACERBATION OF CREDIT OVEREXTEN14 SION.—The pilot program carried out under this section 

15 shall be carried out in a manner that does not exacerbate 

16 the incidence of credit overextension among members of 

17 the Armed Forces. 

18 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

19 (1) SELECTION OF MILITARY INSTALLA20 TIONS.—The Under Secretary shall select at least 

21 10 military installations on which to implement the 

22 pilot program. 

23 (2) INCORPORATION INTO OPERATING AGREE24 MENTS.—A financial institution seeking to begin op25 erating on a military installation selected by the 


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1 Under Secretary under paragraph (1), or seeking to 

2 renew an agreement to operate on such an installa3 tion, shall— 

4 (A) agree to offer the consumer financial 

5 products developed under this section; and 

6 (B) notify members of the Armed Forces 

7 that are customers of the institution about the 

8 availability of the consumer financial products 

9 developed under this section. 

10 (e) CONSULTATION.—In developing consumer finan11 cial products under this section, the Under Secretary shall 

12 consult with Federal banking regulators with expertise in 

13 depository institutions, Federal agencies with experience 

14 regulating financial products, and consumer and military 

15 service organizations with relevant financial expertise. 

16 (f) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date that 

18 is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act, and annually thereafter until the end of the 

20 pilot program, the Under Secretary shall contract 

21 for an independent evaluation of the pilot program 

22 carried out under this section. Such evaluation 

23 shall— 

24 (A) include the degree to which the pilot 

25 program succeeded in the goals of increasing 


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1 usage of savings products, programs, and tools 

2 among members of the Armed Forces on active 

3 duty; and 

4 (B) be conducted by a contractor with 

5 knowledge of consumer financial products and 

6 experience in the evaluation of such products. 

7 (2) REPORT.—After each evaluation carried out 

8 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Under Secretary 

9 shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services 

10 and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 

11 Senate and the Committees on Armed Services and 

12 Financial Services of the House of Representatives 

13 a report containing all findings and conclusions 

14 made by the contractor in conducting the evaluation. 

15 (g) EXPANSION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—Notwith16 standing subsection (a), the Under Secretary may expand 

17 the pilot program, including extending the duration of the 

18 program and expanding the program to make it a nation19 wide program, to the extent determined appropriate by the 

20 Under Secretary, if the Under Secretary determines that 

21 such expansion is expected to— 

22 (1) improve the rates of savings among mem23 bers of the Armed Forces and their families; or 


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1 (2) decrease the need for members of the 

2 Armed Forces and their families to rely on payday 

3 lenders without exacerbating credit overextension. 

4 (h) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DEFINED.—In this sec5 tion, the term ‘‘financial institution’’ means an insured de6 pository institution (as defined in section 3(c)(2) of the 

7 Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c)(2))) 

8 or a credit union. 

Æ 


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