Title: Banking for All Act
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Banking for All Act
This bill requires Federal Reserve member banks to provide digital pass-through accounts (i.e., digital dollar wallets) to residents and citizens, and to businesses domiciled in the United States. Among other things, these accounts must provide specified banking services to eligible persons who elect to deposit funds into these accounts, including access to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) aid payments. These accounts may not charge fees or have balance requirements, and must provide a specified interest rate.
In areas with limited access to Federal Reserve member banks, these banks must partner with postal retail facilities to provide services.
Federal Reserve banks must permit state nonmember banks and credit unions to open master accounts for the purpose of offering digital pass-through accounts.
Postal retail facilities and certain small banks must be reimbursed by the appropriate Federal Reserve bank for operational costs incurred by offering the accounts.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3571 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3571

To require member banks to maintain pass-through digital dollar wallets 
              for certain persons, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 23, 2020

   Mr. Brown introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require member banks to maintain pass-through digital dollar wallets 
              for certain persons, 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 ``Banking for All Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Digital dollars.--The term ``digital dollars'' means 
        dollar balances consisting of digital ledger entries recorded 
        as liabilities in the accounts of any Federal reserve bank.
            (2) Digital dollar wallets.--The term ``digital dollar 
        wallet'' means a digital wallet or account, maintained by a 
        Federal reserve bank on behalf of any person, for the purpose 
        of holding digital dollar balances.
            (3) Member bank.--The term ``member bank'' means any 
        national bank, State bank, or bank or trust company which has 
        become a member of one of the reserve banks created by the 
        Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 221 et seq.).
            (4) Pass-through digital dollar wallets.--The term ``pass-
        through digital dollar wallet'' means a digital wallet or 
        account, maintained by a member bank on behalf of any person, 
        entitling that person to a pro rata share of a pooled reserve 
        balance that the member bank maintains at any Federal reserve 
        bank.
            (5) Postal retail facility.--The term ``postal retail 
        facility''--
                    (A) means post office, post office branch, post 
                office classified station, or other facility that is 
                operated by the Postal Service, the primary function of 
                which is to provide retail postal services; and
                    (B) does not include a contractor-operated facility 
                offering postal services.
            (6) Postal service.--The term ``Postal Service'' means the 
        United States Postal Service.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY AND MANDATE FOR MEMBER BANKS TO MAINTAIN PASS-THROUGH 
              DIGITAL DOLLAR WALLETS.

    (a) Obligations of Member Banks.--
            (1) In general.--Member banks shall open and maintain pass-
        through digital dollar wallets for all persons, including 
        persons eligible to receive payments from the United States 
        pursuant to a Federal law relating to the coronavirus disease 
        2019 (COVID-19), who elect to deposit funds into pass-through 
        digital dollar wallets.
            (2) Maintenance of assets.--
                    (A) In general.--Each member bank shall establish 
                and maintain a separate legal entity for the exclusive 
                purpose of holding all assets and maintaining all 
                liabilities associated with pass-through digital 
                wallets.
                    (B) Contents.--The assets of any entity described 
                in subparagraph (A) shall consist exclusively of a 
                balance maintained in a master account at a Federal 
                reserve bank, and the liabilities or obligations of the 
                entity shall consist exclusively of an equal quantity 
                of balances maintained by holders of pass-through 
                digital wallets.
                    (C) Capital or liquidity regulation.--The assets 
                and liabilities of any legal entity described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall not be deemed assets or 
                liabilities of the member bank or its affiliates for 
                purposes of any capital or liquidity regulation 
                promulgated by Federal or State banking authorities.
                    (D) Online application requirement for large 
                banks.--Member banks with total consolidated assets 
                greater than $10,000,000,000 shall promptly offer 
                application, through online or telephonic means, for 
                pass-through digital wallets.
    (b) Terms of Pass-Through Digital Dollar Wallets.--Pass-through 
digital dollar wallets--
            (1) shall not be subject to any account fees, minimum 
        balances, or maximum balances and shall pay interest at a rate 
        not below the greater of the rate of interest on required 
        reserves and the rate of interest on excess reserves;
            (2) shall provide functionality and service levels no less 
        favorable than those that the member bank offers for its 
        existing transaction accounts, including with respect to debit 
        cards, automated teller machines, online account access, 
        automatic bill-pay, mobile banking, customer service and such 
        other services as the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
        System determines appropriate in the public interest, provided 
        that digital dollar wallets shall not include overdraft 
        coverage;
            (3) shall be prominently branded in all account statements, 
        marketing materials, and other communications as ``pass-through 
        FedAccounts'' maintained by the member bank on behalf of the 
        Federal Reserve;
            (4) may not be closed or restricted by the bank on the 
        basis of profitability considerations; and
            (5) shall provide account holders with reasonable 
        protection against losses caused by fraud or security breaches.
    (c) Reimbursement for Costs.--
            (1) In general.--Each postal retail facility and each 
        member bank with total consolidated assets of not greater than 
        $10,000,000,000 shall be reimbursed each calendar quarter by 
        the relevant Federal reserve bank for the actual and reasonable 
        operational costs incurred by the postal retail facility or 
        member bank in offering pass-through digital dollar wallets.
            (2) Regulations.--The Board of Governors of the Federal 
        Reserve System shall promulgate such regulations as necessary 
        to carry out this subsection.
    (d) Authority of the Board.--Member banks shall be subject to such 
regulations and obligations as may be imposed by the Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System in connection with maintaining pass-
through digital dollar wallets.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY FOR STATE NONMEMBER BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS TO OFFER 
              PASS-THROUGH DIGITAL DOLLAR WALLETS.

    The Federal reserve banks shall permit State nonmember banks and 
credit unions to open master accounts for the exclusive purpose of 
offering pass-through digital dollar wallets in compliance with the 
separate entity structure described in section 3(a), if--
            (1) the pass-through digital wallets comply with the terms 
        set forth in section 3(b); and
            (2) each State nonmember bank or credit union electing to 
        offer pass-through digital wallets shall be entitled to cost 
        reimbursement in accordance with section 3(c).

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY AND MANDATE FOR FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS TO MAINTAIN 
              DIGITAL DOLLAR WALLETS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

    (a) Authorization.--Subject to such restrictions, limitations, and 
regulations as may be imposed by the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System, each Federal reserve bank may maintain digital dollar 
wallets.
    (b) Mandate.--
            (1) In general.--All Federal reserve banks shall, not later 
        than January 1, 2021, make digital wallets available to all 
        residents and citizens of the United States and to businesses 
        domiciled in the United States.
            (2) Limited branches.--In areas where access to physical 
        member bank branches is limited, including in low- or moderate-
        income geographies, designated disaster areas, distressed or 
        underserved non-metropolitan middle-income geographies, as 
        designated by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination 
        Council, Federal reserve banks shall partner with postal retail 
        facilities to ensure access and availability to application and 
        account services for all residents and citizens of the United 
        States and to businesses domiciled in the United States.
    (c) Terms of Digital Dollar Wallets.--Digital dollar wallets--
            (1) shall not be subject to any account fees, minimum 
        balances, or maximum balances, and shall pay interest at a rate 
        not below the greater of the rate of interest on required 
        reserves and the rate of interest on excess reserves;
            (2) shall provide debit cards, online account access, 
        automatic bill-pay, mobile banking, customer service and other 
        such services as the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
        System determines appropriate in the public interest, provided 
        that digital dollar wallets shall not include overdraft 
        coverage;
            (3) shall provide, in conjunction with the Postal Service, 
        access to automatic teller machines to be maintained on behalf 
        of the Board of Governors of the Postal Service at postal 
        retail facilities;
            (4) shall be branded in all account statements, marketing 
        materials, and other communications as ``FedAccounts'' 
        maintained by the Federal reserve bank on behalf of the United 
        States of America;
            (5) may not be closed or restricted on the basis of 
        profitability considerations; and
            (6) shall provide account holders with reasonable 
        protection against losses caused by fraud or security breaches.
    (d) Bank Secrecy Act.--In establishing and maintaining digital 
dollar wallets, each Federal reserve bank shall comply with--
            (1) section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 
        U.S.C. 1829b);
            (2) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508 (12 U.S.C. 
        1951 et seq.); and
            (3) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States 
        Code.
    (e) Privacy.--Section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
known as the ``Privacy Act of 1974''), shall apply to digital dollar 
wallets, and the privacy obligations applicable to each Federal reserve 
bank and its employees, including with respect to criminal and civil 
penalties, shall mirror those applicable to Federal tax returns under 
sections 6103, 7213(a)(1), 7213A, and 7431 of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986.

SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.

    The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall 
promulgate regulations carrying out this Act.
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