Fair Access to Banking Act would ensure financial institutions don’t categorically exclude lawful industries from services for political or ideological reasons
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators John Curtis (R-UT) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), along with 39 of their Republican colleagues, reintroduced the Fair Access to Banking Act, legislation to prevent large banks and financial institutions from denying fair access to financial services based on political or ideological preferences. In recent years, prominent American banks have engaged in debanking, the discriminatory practice of refusing to lend or provide services to law-abiding, legal industries—such as firearms, ammunition, cryptocurrency, federal prison contractors, and energy producers.
“Banks are not regulators, and no lawful business should be denied access to financial services based on the political or ideological whims of a financial institution,” said Senator Curtis. “In Utah, we value fair competition and the right to build a business without fear of discrimination. By ensuring banks use impartial, risk-based criteria when evaluating customers, our commonsense legislation protects industries like firearms, energy producers, and cryptocurrencies.”
“When progressives failed at banning these entire industries, what they did instead is they turned to weaponizing banks as sort of a backdoor to carry out their activist goals,” said Senator Cramer. “Financial institutions are backed by taxpayers, for crying out loud! They should be obligated to provide services in an unbiased, risk-based manner. The Fair Access to Banking Act ensures that banks provide fair access to services and enacts strict penalties for categorically discriminating against legal industries and individuals.”
Background:
The Senators’ legislation comes in response to United States banks and financial institutions increasingly using their economic standing to categorically discriminate against legal industries and conservatives. For example, Citigroup instituted a policy in 2018 to withhold project-related financing for coal plants, and in 2020, five of the country’s largest banks announced they would not provide loans or credit to support oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, despite explicit congressional authorization. Such exclusionary practices also extend to industries protected by the Second Amendment, with Capital One, among other banks, previously including “ammunitions, firearms, or firearm parts” in the prohibited payments section of its corporate policy manual, and payment services like Apple Pay and PayPal denying their services for transactions involving firearms or ammunition.
Specifically, the Fair Access to Banking Act would:
- Penalize banks and credit unions with over $10 billion in total consolidated assets, or their subsidiaries, if they refuse to do business with any legally compliant, credit-worthy person;
- Prevent payment card networks from discriminating against any qualified person because of political or reputational considerations;
- Require qualified banks to provide written justification for why they are denying a person financial services; and
- Penalize providers who fail to comply with the law by disqualifying institutions from using discount window lending programs, terminating status as an insured depository institution or credit union, or imposing a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation.
The Fair Access to Banking Act is endorsed by several organizations, including the National Shooting Sports Foundation, National Rifle Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, The Digital Chamber, Blockchain Association, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Online Lenders Alliance, Day 1 Alliance, GEO Group, Lignite Energy Council, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, and National Mining Association.
Joining Curtis and Cramer in introducing the Fair Access to Banking Act include U.S. Senators Jim Banks (R-IN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Jim Justice (R-WV), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Dave McCormick (R-PA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jim Risch (R-ID), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).
Full text of the Fair Access to Banking Act is available here.