H. R. 4173—690 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘designated recipient’ means any person 
located in a foreign country and identified by the sender as 
the authorized recipient of a remittance transfer to be made 
by a remittance transfer provider, except that a designated 
recipient shall not be deemed to be a consumer for purposes 
of this Act; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘remittance transfer’— 
‘‘(A) means the electronic (as defined in section 106(2) 
of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Com-
merce Act (15 U.S.C. 7006(2))) transfer of funds requested 
by a sender located in any State to a designated recipient 
that is initiated by a remittance transfer provider, whether 
or not the sender holds an account with the remittance 
transfer provider or whether or not the remittance transfer 
is also an electronic fund transfer, as defined in section 
903; and 
‘‘(B) does not include a transfer described in subpara-
graph (A) in an amount that is equal to or lesser than 
the amount of a small-value transaction determined, by 
rule, to be excluded from the requirements under section 
906(a); 
‘‘(3) the term ‘remittance transfer provider’ means any per-
son or financial institution that provides remittance transfers 
for a consumer in the normal course of its business, whether 
or not the consumer holds an account with such person or 
financial institution; and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘sender’ means a consumer who requests 
a remittance provider to send a remittance transfer for the 
consumer to a designated recipient.’’. 
(b) AUTOMATED CLEARINGHOUSE SYSTEM.— 
(1) EXPANSION OF SYSTEM.—The Board of Governors shall 
work with the Federal reserve banks and the Department of 
the Treasury to expand the use of the automated clearinghouse 
system and other payment mechanisms for remittance transfers 
to foreign countries, with a focus on countries that receive 
significant remittance transfers from the United States, based 
on— 
(A) the number, volume, and size of such transfers; 
(B) the significance of the volume of such transfers 
relative to the external financial flows of the receiving 
country, including— 
(i) the total amount transferred; and 
(ii) the total volume of payments made by United 
States Government agencies to beneficiaries and 
retirees living abroad; 
(C) the feasibility of such an expansion; and 
(D) the ability of the Federal Reserve System to estab-
lish payment gateways in different geographic regions and 
currency zones to receive remittance transfers and route 
them through the payments systems in the destination 
countries. 
(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one calendar 
year after the date of enactment of this Act, and on April 
30 biennially thereafter during the 10-year period beginning 
on that date of enactment, the Board of Governors shall submit 
a report to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
H. R. 4173—691 
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services 
of the House of Representatives on the status of the automated 
clearinghouse system and its progress in complying with the 
requirements of this subsection. The report shall include an 
analysis of adoption rates of International ACH Transactions 
rules and formats, the efficacy of increasing adoption rates, 
and potential recommendations to increase adoption. 
(c) EXPANSION OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTION PROVISION OF REMIT-
TANCE TRANSFERS.— 
(1) PROVISION OF GUIDELINES TO INSTITUTIONS.—Each of 
the Federal banking agencies and the National Credit Union 
Administration shall provide guidelines to financial institutions 
under the jurisdiction of the agency regarding the offering 
of low-cost remittance transfers and no-cost or low-cost basic 
consumer accounts, as well as agency services to remittance 
transfer providers. 
(2) ASSISTANCE TO FINANCIAL LITERACY COMMISSION.—As 
part of its duties as members of the Financial Literacy and 
Education Commission, the Bureau, the Federal banking agen-
cies, and the National Credit Union Administration shall assist 
the Financial Literacy and Education Commission in executing 
the Strategy for Assuring Financial Empowerment (or the 
‘‘SAFE Strategy’’), as it relates to remittances. 
(d) FEDERAL CREDIT UNION ACT CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
Paragraph (12) of section 107 of the Federal Credit Union Act 
(12 U.S.C. 1757) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(12) in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 
Board— 
‘‘(A) to sell, to persons in the field of membership, 
negotiable checks (including travelers checks), money 
orders, and other similar money transfer instruments 
(including international and domestic electronic fund trans-
fers and remittance transfers, as defined in section 919 
of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act); and 
‘‘(B) to cash checks and money orders for persons in 
the field of membership for a fee;’’. 
(e) REPORT ON FEASIBILITY OF AND IMPEDIMENTS TO USE OF 
REMITTANCE HISTORY IN CALCULATION OF CREDIT SCORE.—Before 
the end of the 365-day period beginning on the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Director shall submit a report to the President, 
the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
Senate, and the Committee on Financial Services of the House 
of Representatives regarding— 
(1) the manner in which the remittance history of a con-
sumer could be used to enhance the credit score of the con-
sumer; 
(2) the current legal and business model barriers and 
impediments that impede the use of the remittance history 
of the consumer to enhance the credit score of the consumer; 
and 
(3) recommendations on the manner in which maximum 
transparency and disclosure to consumers of exchange rates 
for remittance transfers subject to this title and the amend-
ments made by this title may be accomplished, whether or 
not such exchange rates are known at the time of origination 
or payment by the consumer for the remittance transfer, 
including disclosure to the sender of the actual exchange rate
H. R. 4173—692 
used and the amount of currency that the recipient of the 
remittance transfer received, using the values of the currency 
into which the funds were exchanged, as contained in sections 
919(a)(2)(D) and 919(a)(3) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act 
(as amended by this section). 
SEC. 1074. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY STUDY ON ENDING THE 
CONSERVATORSHIP OF FANNIE MAE, FREDDIE MAC, AND 
REFORMING THE HOUSING FINANCE SYSTEM. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall con-
duct a study of and develop recommendations regarding the 
options for ending the conservatorship of the Federal National 
Mortgage Association (in this section referred to as ‘‘Fannie 
Mae’’) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (in 
this section referred to as ‘‘Freddie Mac’’), while minimizing 
the cost to taxpayers, including such options as— 
(A) the gradual wind-down and liquidation of such 
entities; 
(B) the privatization of such entities; 
(C) the incorporation of the functions of such entities 
into a Federal agency; 
(D) the dissolution of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 
into smaller companies; or 
(E) any other measures the Secretary determines 
appropriate. 
(2) ANALYSES.—The study required under paragraph (1) 
shall include an analysis of— 
(A) the role of the Federal Government in supporting 
a stable, well-functioning housing finance system, and 
whether and to what extent the Federal Government should 
bear risks in meeting Federal housing finance objectives; 
(B) how the current structure of the housing finance 
system can be improved; 
(C) how the housing finance system should support 
the continued availability of mortgage credit to all segments 
of the market; 
(D) how the housing finance system should be struc-
tured to ensure that consumers continue to have access 
to 30-year, fixed rate, pre-payable mortgages and other 
mortgage products that have simple terms that can be 
easily understood; 
(E) the role of the Federal Housing Administration 
and the Department of Veterans Affairs in a future housing 
system; 
(F) the impact of reforms of the housing finance system 
on the financing of rental housing; 
(G) the impact of reforms of the housing finance system 
on secondary market liquidity; 
(H) the role of standardization in the housing finance 
system; 
(I) how housing finance systems in other countries 
offer insights that can help inform options for reform in 
the United States; and 
(J) the options for transition to a reformed housing 
finance system.
H. R. 4173—693 
(b) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than January 
31, 2011, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit the report 
and recommendations required under subsection (a) to the Com-
mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate 
and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Represent-
atives. 
SEC. 1075. REASONABLE FEES AND RULES FOR PAYMENT CARD TRANS-
ACTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 
1693 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 920 and 921 as sections 921 
and 922, respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after section 919 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 920. REASONABLE FEES AND RULES FOR PAYMENT CARD TRANS-
ACTIONS. 
‘‘(a) REASONABLE INTERCHANGE TRANSACTION FEES FOR ELEC-
TRONIC DEBIT TRANSACTIONS.— 
‘‘(1) REGULATORY
AUTHORITY
OVER
INTERCHANGE
TRANS-
ACTION FEES.—The Board may prescribe regulations, pursuant 
to section 553 of title 5, United States Code, regarding any 
interchange transaction fee that an issuer may receive or charge 
with respect to an electronic debit transaction, to implement 
this subsection (including related definitions), and to prevent 
circumvention or evasion of this subsection. 
‘‘(2) REASONABLE
INTERCHANGE
TRANSACTION
FEES.—The 
amount of any interchange transaction fee that an issuer may 
receive or charge with respect to an electronic debit transaction 
shall be reasonable and proportional to the cost incurred by 
the issuer with respect to the transaction. 
‘‘(3) RULEMAKING REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall prescribe regula-
tions in final form not later than 9 months after the date 
of enactment of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 
of 2010, to establish standards for assessing whether the 
amount of any interchange transaction fee described in 
paragraph (2) is reasonable and proportional to the cost 
incurred by the issuer with respect to the transaction. 
‘‘(B) 
INFORMATION
COLLECTION.—The 
Board 
may 
require any issuer (or agent of an issuer) or payment 
card network to provide the Board with such information 
as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this 
subsection and the Board, in issuing rules under subpara-
graph (A) and on at least a bi-annual basis thereafter, 
shall disclose such aggregate or summary information con-
cerning the costs incurred, and interchange transaction 
fees charged or received, by issuers or payment card net-
works in connection with the authorization, clearance or 
settlement of electronic debit transactions as the Board 
considers appropriate and in the public interest. 
‘‘(4) CONSIDERATIONS; CONSULTATION.—In prescribing regu-
lations under paragraph (3)(A), the Board shall— 
‘‘(A) consider the functional similarity between— 
‘‘(i) electronic debit transactions; and 
‘‘(ii) checking transactions that are required within 
the Federal Reserve bank system to clear at par; 
‘‘(B) distinguish between—