I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5816 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2018 

Ms. CLARKE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition 

to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 of title 39, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

3 the end; 

4 (B) in paragraph (8), by striking the pe5 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

7 ‘‘(9) to provide basic financial services, includ8 ing— 

9 ‘‘(A) low-cost, small-dollar loans, not to ex10 ceed $500 at a time, or $1,000 from 1 year of 

11 the issuance of the initial loan, as adjusted an12 nually by the Postmaster General to reflect any 

13 change in the Consumer Price Index for All 

14 Urban Consumers of the Department of Labor; 

15 ‘‘(B) alone, or in partnership with deposi16 tory institutions, as defined in section 3 of the 

17 Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 

18 1813), and Federal credit unions, as defined in 

19 section 101 of the of the Federal Credit Union 

20 Act (12 U.S.C. 1752), small checking accounts 

21 and interest-bearing savings accounts, not to 

22 exceed the greater of— 

23 ‘‘(i) $20,000 per account; and 

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

25 balance reported in the Federal Deposit 


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1 Insurance Corporation’s quarterly Consoli2 dated Reports of Condition and Income; 

3 ‘‘(C) transactional services, including debit 

4 cards, automated teller machines, online check5 ing accounts, check-cashing services, automatic 

6 bill-pay, mobile banking, or other products that 

7 allows users to engage in the financial services 

8 described in this paragraph; 

9 ‘‘(D) remittance services, including the re10 ceiving and sending of money to domestic or 

11 foreign recipients; and 

12 ‘‘(E) such other basic financial services as 

13 the Postal Service determines appropriate in 

14 the public interest; 

15 ‘‘(10) to set interest rates and fees for the fi16 nancial instruments and products provided by the 

17 Postal Service that— 

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

19 the products and the public interest is given 

20 significant consideration; 

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

22 accounts are at least 100 percent of the Federal 

23 Deposit Insurance Corporation’s weekly na24 tional rate on non-jumbo savings accounts; and 


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

2 on small-dollar loan amounts— 

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

4 charges, and ancillary products and serv5 ices; and 

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

7 Treasury 1 month constant maturity rate; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(11) allow capitalization of an amount deemed 

10 necessary by the Postmaster General that serve the 

11 purpose of this section, through an account separate 

12 from products not included or allowed in this sec13 tion, for the purposes of enacting the provisions of 

14 this section.’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(f) Any net profits from services provided under this 

17 section that are not greater than the amount of initial cap18 italization— 

19 ‘‘(1) shall be reported separately from mail 

20 service and delivery; 

21 ‘‘(2) in the case of any amount appropriated, 

22 shall be returned to the general fund of the Treas23 ury not later than 9 years after the date of enact24 ment of this subsection; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) may be repaid to the offering organization 

2 or organizations if the Postmaster General deter3 mines that the services provided in this subsection 

4 are not reduced as a result.’’. 

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

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

7 insured depository institution, as defined in section 3 of 

8 the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813), or 

9 engage in traditional banking activities such as lending, 

10 other than those activities permitted under section 404 of 

11 title 39, United States Code, as amended by this Act. 

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

13 subject to the provisions of article 4 of the Uniform Com14 mercial Code. 

15 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Postmaster General, in con16 sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Bureau 

17 of Consumer Financial Protection, and the Federal bank18 ing agencies, shall promulgate regulations carrying out 

19 this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

20 (e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

21 Section 404(e)(2) of title 39, United States Code, is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The pre23 ceding sentence shall not apply to any financial service of24 fered by the Postal Service under subsection (a)(9).’’. 


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

2 by the United States Postal Service under section 404 of 

3 title 39, United States Code— 

4 (1) shall be considered permissible non-banking 

5 activities in accordance with section 225.28 of title 

6 12, Code of Federal Regulations; and 

7 (2) shall not be considered the business of 

8 banking under the seventh paragraph of section 

9 5136 of the Revised Statutes (12 U.S.C. 24). 

Æ 


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