Municipal IDs Acceptance Act
Bill: H.R.3968 | Sponsor: Rep. Torres, Ritchie (D-NY)
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Municipal IDs Acceptance Act
This bill directs financial regulatory agencies to update specified guidance to include municipal identification cards as acceptable forms of identification for purposes of verifying the identity of a bank customer.

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Crimes Enforcement 
 Network, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the 
 Comptroller of the Currency, and the United States Department of the 
Treasury to update guidance on customer identification regulations with 
 respect to the use of identification cards issued by a municipality, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Municipal IDs Acceptance Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Current law and regulations require certain financial 
        institutions, including depository institutions, savings 
        associations, and credit unions, to have a Customer 
        Identification Program to identify customers who wish to open 
        accounts.
            (2) A financial institution must have risk-based procedures 
        for evaluating new customers that allow the financial 
        institution to form a reasonable belief that the financial 
        institution knows the true identity of the customer.
            (3) Guidance on the Consumer Identification Program has not 
        been updated since the staff of the Board of Governors of the 
        Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 
        Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, National Credit Union 
        Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 
        Office of Thrift Supervision, and the United States Department 
        of the Treasury (in this section referred to as ``the 
        Agencies'') issued ``Interagency Interpretive Guidance on 
        Customer Identification Program Requirements under Section 326 
        of the USA PATRIOT Act, 2005 FAQs''.
            (4) Over the last decade more than two dozen cities and 
        counties in the United States have instituted municipal 
        identification programs, issuing a form of identification to 
        residents who typically do not have driver's licenses, 
        including young people, the elderly, homeless residents, and 
        immigrants.
            (5) Municipal identification programs help vulnerable 
        populations access private and public services, including 
        library services, utility accounts, food, medical care, and 
        housing assistance.
            (6) While the Agencies have issued statements about the use 
        of municipal identification for consumer identification, many 
        financial institutions have been hesitant to incorporate 
        municipal identification into the Consumer Identification 
        Programs, limiting access to banking for underserved 
        populations.
            (7) It is important for the Agencies to clarify, in 
        guidance, that financial institutions may accept municipal 
        identification to establish a customer's identity if such 
        identification enables the bank to form a reasonable belief 
        that the bank knows the true identity of the customer.

SEC. 3. UPDATING GUIDANCE ON CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION REGULATIONS.

    The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Crimes Enforcement 
Network, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency, and the Department of the Treasury shall 
update the guidance titled ``Guidance on Customer Identification 
Regulations Financial Crimes Enforcement Network FAQs: Final CIP Rule'' 
issued on January 8, 2004, to state that an identification card issued 
by a municipality may be used by a bank to verify the identity of a 
customer if such identification card enables the bank to form a 
reasonable belief that the bank knows the true identity of the 
customer.
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