I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5315
To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to extend certain consumer 
protections to international remittance transfers of funds originating 
in the United States, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 8, 2004
Mr. GUTIERREZ (for himself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. MENENDEZ, 
Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. WATERS, Ms. LEE, Mrs. MALONEY, 
Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA´, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. 
ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SOLIS, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. BELL, 
and Mr. MEEKS of New York) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 
Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to extend cer-
tain consumer protections to international remittance 
transfers of funds originating in the United States, and 
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Remit-
tance Consumer Protection Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) In 2003, worker remittances from the 
United 
States 
to 
Latin 
America 
reached 
$31,000,000,000 and that volume is expected to rise 
as the region is both the fastest growing remittance 
market in the world and has the highest volume of 
remittances in the world. 
(2) Of the $31,000,000,000 in remittances to 
Latin America, $14,000,000,000 went to Mexico: an 
amount exceeding the country’s total revenues from 
tourism, and representing more than 2⁄3 of the value 
of petroleum exports and roughly 180 percent of the 
amount of agricultural exports. 
(3) Remittances account for at least 10 percent 
of the gross domestic product of 6 countries in Latin 
America: Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Jamaica, 
the Dominican Republic, and Guyana. 
(4) The Declaration of Nuevo Leo´n from the 
January 2004 Special Summit of the Americas rec-
ognized that ‘‘. . . remittances are an important 
source of capital in many countries of the Hemi-
sphere . . .’’. 
(5) The Declaration of Nuevo Leo´n also com-
mitted the countries of the Americas to ‘‘. . . take 
concrete actions to promote the establishment, as
soon as possible, of necessary conditions, in order to 
achieve the goal of reducing by at least half the re-
gional average cost of these transfers no later than 
2008’’. 
(6) Studies have shown that that, on average, 
around 10 percent of remittances received are saved 
or invested by the recipients which supports 2 con-
clusions: that some percentage of recipients are 
therefore in a position to use remittance money to 
create new businesses and that financial institutions 
can also use remittances as the basis of credit for 
entrepreneurs starting small or micro-enterprises. 
(7) Since affordable, long-term mortgages are 
not widely available in many countries of the West-
ern Hemisphere, financial institutions can increase 
the number of mortgages they provide to poor people 
in the region by using remittances as the basis for 
credit. 
(8) The Multilateral Investment Fund of the 
Inter-American Development Bank estimates that in 
February of 2004, the average cost in the United 
States of sending a remittance to a Latin American 
country was roughly 8 percent of the amount remit-
ted.
where in the Americas, pay higher fees, have dif-
ficulty conducting financial transactions, and lack 
the ability to establish credit records or obtain other 
benefits from financial institutions. 
(14) The Federal banking agencies (as defined 
in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act) 
recently agreed to notify financial institutions that 
the remittances services they offer to consumers can 
receive consideration in any evaluation under the 
Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 as both a re-
tail service, and as a community development service 
if remittances serve to increase access to financial 
services by low- and moderate-income individuals. 
(15) The Federal banking agencies also agreed 
that current regulations under the Community Rein-
vestment Act of 1977 provide for a distinction be-
tween the mere provision of remittances services by 
a financial institution and the ‘‘responsiveness’’ of 
such services to the financial services needs of low- 
and moderate-income individuals—thereby allowing 
for the consideration of lower cost remittances serv-
ices in an evaluation under such Act. 
(16) The increased participation of regulated fi-
nancial institutions, such as banks, savings associa-
tions, and credit unions, holds the potential for re-
ducing the costs of remittances while at the same 
time offering 
the 
opportunity 
to 
‘‘bank 
the 
unbanked’’ in Latin American immigrant commu-
nities in the United States. 
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF REMITTANCE TRANSFERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Electronic Fund Transfer 
Act (15 U.S.C. 1693 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in section 902(b), by inserting ‘‘and remit-
tance’’ after ‘‘electronic fund’’; 
(2) by redesignating sections 918, 919, 920, 
and 921 as sections 919, 920, 921, and 922, respec-
tively; and 
(3) by inserting after section 917 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 918. REMITTANCE TRANSFERS. 
‘‘(a) DISCLOSURES REQUIRED
FOR REMITTANCE 
TRANSFERS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each remittance transfer 
provider shall make disclosures to consumers, as 
specified by this section and augmented by regula-
tion of the Board. 
‘‘(2) SPECIFIC
DISCLOSURES.—In addition to 
any other disclosures applicable under this title, a 
remittance transfer provider shall clearly and con-
spicuously disclose, in writing and in a form that the
consumer may keep, to each consumer requesting a 
remittance transfer—
‘‘(A) at the time at which the consumer 
makes the request, and prior to the consumer 
making any payment in connection with the 
transfer—
‘‘(i) the total amount of currency that 
will be required to be tendered by the con-
sumer in connection with the remittance 
transfer; 
‘‘(ii) the amount of currency that will 
be sent to the designated recipient of the 
remittance transfer, using the values of the 
currency into which the funds will be ex-
changed; 
‘‘(iii) the total remittance transfer 
cost, identified as the ‘Total Cost’; and 
‘‘(iv) an itemization of the charges in-
cluded in clause (iii), as determined nec-
essary by the Board; and 
‘‘(B) at the time at which the consumer 
makes payment in connection with the remit-
tance transfer, if any—
‘‘(i) a receipt showing—
‘‘(I) the information described in 
subparagraph (A); 
‘‘(II) the promised date of deliv-
ery; 
‘‘(III) the name and telephone 
number or address of the designated 
recipient; and 
‘‘(ii) a notice containing—
‘‘(I) information about the rights 
of the consumer under this section to 
resolve errors; and 
‘‘(II) appropriate contact infor-
mation for the remittance transfer 
provider and its State licensing au-
thority and Federal or State regu-
lator, as applicable. 
‘‘(3) EXEMPTION
AUTHORITY.—The Board 
may, by rule, and subject to subsection (d)(3), per-
mit a remittance transfer provider—
‘‘(A) to satisfy the requirements of para-
graph (2)(A) orally if the transaction is con-
ducted entirely by telephone; 
‘‘(B) to satisfy the requirements of para-
graph (2)(B) by mailing the documents re-
quired under such paragraph to the consumer
not later than 1 business day after the date on 
which the transaction is conducted, if the trans-
action is conducted entirely by telephone; and 
‘‘(C) to satisfy the requirements of sub-
paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) with 
1 written disclosure, but only to the extent that 
the information provided in accordance with 
paragraph (2)(A) is accurate at the time at 
which payment is made in connection with the 
subject remittance transfer. 
‘‘(b) FOREIGN LANGUAGE DISCLOSURES.—The dis-
closures required under this section shall be made in 
English and in the same languages principally used by the 
remittance transfer provider, or any of its agents, to ad-
vertise, solicit, or market, either orally or in writing, at 
that office, if other than English. 
‘‘(c) REMITTANCE TRANSFER ERRORS.—
‘‘(1) ERROR RESOLUTION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a remittance trans-
fer provider receives oral or written notice from 
the consumer within 365 days of the promised 
date of delivery that an error occurred with re-
spect to a remittance transfer, including that 
the full amount of the funds to be remitted was 
not made available to the designated recipient
in the foreign country, the remittance transfer 
provider shall resolve the error pursuant to this 
subsection. 
‘‘(B) REMEDIES.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of receipt of a notice from the 
consumer pursuant to subparagraph (A), the 
remittance transfer provider shall, as applicable 
to the error and as designated by the con-
sumer—
‘‘(i) refund to the consumer the total 
amount of funds tendered by the consumer 
in connection with the remittance transfer 
which was not properly transmitted; 
‘‘(ii) make available to the designated 
recipient, without additional cost to the 
designated recipient or to the consumer, 
the amount appropriate to resolve the 
error; 
‘‘(iii) provide such other remedy, as 
determined appropriate by rule of the 
Board for the protection of consumers; or 
‘‘(iv) demonstrate to the consumer 
that there was no error. 
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Board shall estab-
lish, by regulation, clear and appropriate standards
for remittance transfer providers with respect to 
error resolution relating to remittance transfers, to 
protect consumers from such errors. 
‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY
OF OTHER PROVISIONS
OF 
LAW.—
‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY OF TITLE 18 AND TITLE 31 
PROVISIONS.—A remittance transfer provider may 
only provide remittance transfers if such provider is 
in compliance with the requirements of section 5330 
of title 31, United States Code, and section 1960 of 
title 18, United States Code, as applicable. 
‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY OF THIS TITLE.—
‘‘(A) EXCLUSIONS
FOR
CERTAIN
REMIT-
TANCES.—A remittance transfer that is not an 
electronic fund transfer, as defined in section 
903, shall not be subject to any of sections 905 
through 913. 
‘‘(B) FULL APPLICABILITY FOR CERTAIN 
REMITTANCES.—A remittance transfer that is 
an electronic fund transfer, as defined in sec-
tion 903, shall be subject to all provisions of 
this title that are otherwise applicable to elec-
tronic fund transfers under this title. 
‘‘(3) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed—
‘‘(A) to affect the application to any trans-
action, to any remittance provider, or to any 
other person of any of the provisions of sub-
chapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United 
States Code, section 21 of the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Act, or chapter 2 of title I of Public 
Law 91–508, or any regulations promulgated 
thereunder; or 
‘‘(B) to cause any fund transfer that would 
not otherwise be treated as such under para-
graph (2) to be treated as an electronic fund 
transfer, or as otherwise subject to this title, for 
the purposes of any of the provisions referred to 
in subparagraph (A) or any regulation pre-
scribed under such subparagraph. 
‘‘(e) PUBLICATION OF EXCHANGE RATES.—The Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall make available to the public 
in electronic form, not later than noon on each business 
day, the dollar exchange rate for all foreign currencies, 
using any methodology that the Secretary determines ap-
propriate, which may include the methodology used pursu-
ant to section 613(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961. 
‘‘(f) AGENTS
AND
SUBSIDIARIES.—A remittance 
transfer provider shall be liable for any violation of this
section by any agent or subsidiary of that remittance 
transfer provider. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
following definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(1) EXCHANGE
RATE
FEE.—The term ‘ex-
change rate fee’ means the difference between the 
total dollar amount transferred, valued at the ex-
change rate offered by the remittance transfer pro-
vider, and the total dollar amount transferred, val-
ued at the exchange rate posted by the Secretary of 
the Treasury in accordance with subsection (e) on 
the business day prior to the initiation of the subject 
remittance transfer. 
‘‘(2) REMITTANCE TRANSFER.—The term ‘re-
mittance transfer’ means the electronic (as defined 
in section 106(2) of the Electronic Signatures in 
Global and National Commerce Act) transfer of 
funds at the request of a consumer located in any 
State to a person in another country that is initiated 
by a remittance transfer provider, whether or not 
the consumer is an account holder of the remittance 
transfer provider or whether or not the remittance 
transfer is also an electronic fund transfer, as de-
fined in section 903.
‘‘(3) REMITTANCE TRANSFER PROVIDER.—The 
term ‘remittance transfer provider’ means any per-
son or financial institution that provides remittance 
transfers on behalf of consumers in the normal 
course of its business, whether or not the consumer 
is an account holder of that person or financial insti-
tution. 
‘‘(4) STATE.—Notwithstanding the definition 
contained in section 903, the term ‘State’ means any 
of the several States, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, the District of Columbia, and any territory or 
possession of the United States. 
‘‘(5) TOTAL REMITTANCE TRANSFER COST.—
The term ‘total remittance transfer cost’ means the 
total cost of a remittance transfer expressed in dol-
lars, including all fees charged by the remittance 
transfer provider, including the exchange rate fee.’’. 
(b) EFFECT ON STATE LAWS.—Section 919 of the 
Electronic Fund Transfer Act (12 U.S.C. 1693q) is 
amended—
(1) in the 1st sentence, by inserting ‘‘or remit-
tance transfers (as defined in section 918)’’ after 
‘‘transfers’’; and 
(2) in the 2nd sentence, by inserting ‘‘, or re-
mittance transfer providers (as defined in section
918), in the case of remittance transfers,’’ after ‘‘fi-
nancial institutions’’. 
SEC. 4. FEDERAL CREDIT UNION ACT AMENDMENT. 
Paragraph (12) of section 107 of the Federal Credit 
Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1757(12)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(12) in accordance with regulations prescribed 
by the Board—
‘‘(A) to provide remittance transfers, as 
defined in section 918(h) of the Electronic 
Fund Transfer Act, to persons in the field of 
membership; and 
‘‘(B) to cash checks and money orders for 
persons in the field of membership for a fee;’’. 
SEC. 5. AUTOMATED CLEARINGHOUSE SYSTEM. 
(a) EXPANSION OF SYSTEM.—The Board of Gov-
ernors of the Federal Reserve System shall work with the 
Federal reserve banks to expand the use of the automated 
clearinghouse system for remittance transfers to foreign 
countries, with a focus on countries that receive significant 
remittance transfers from the United States, based on—
(1) the number, volume, and sizes of such 
transfers;