# 119-s-401: Fair Access to Banking Act

119-s-401, Fair Access to Banking Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-401
- As of: 2026-09-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-401
- Congress: 119
- Title: Fair Access to Banking Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-04
- Sponsor: Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND] (R-ND)
- Cosponsors: 46
- Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-18

## Summary

**Guarantees fair, impartial access to basic financial services.** This bill would limit when banks, credit unions, and payment networks can refuse to serve a person who is acting lawfully by requiring denials to rest on documented, quantitative, risk-based standards and by creating penalties and a private lawsuit tool for violations. - Large banks would face limits on Federal Reserve discount window access and Automated Clearing House network use if they refuse to serve lawful customers without objective, pre-established risk reasons. Covered banks are presumed to be those with more than $10.0 billion in assets. - Payment card networks and credit unions would be barred from blocking access based on political or reputational risk. Card networks face civil penalties up to 10% of the value of affected services or $10,000 per violation. - Individuals and businesses denied services in violation of the bill would get a private right of action in federal court. Successful plaintiffs could recover attorney fees, costs, and treble damages.

## Cosponsors (46)

- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY] (R-WY), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR] (R-AR), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Britt, Katie Boyd [R-AL] (R-AL), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] (R-NC), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] (R-WV), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA] (R-LA), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] (R-AR), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (R-TX), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Curtis, John R. [R-UT] (R-UT), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fischer, Deb [R-NE] (R-NE), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC] (R-SC), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hagerty, Bill [R-TN] (R-TN), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] (R-ND), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI] (R-WI), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Justice, James C. [R-WV] (R-WV), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY] (R-WY), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] (R-KS), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS] (R-KS), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Moreno, Bernie [R-OH] (R-OH), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mullin, Markwayne [R-OK-2] (R-OK), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ricketts, Pete [R-NE] (R-NE), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schmitt, Eric [R-MO] (R-MO), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] (R-FL), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] (R-SC), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sheehy, Tim [R-MT] (R-MT), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (R-AK), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Tuberville, Tommy [R-AL] (R-AL), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] (R-MS), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Moody, Ashley [R-FL] (R-FL), 2025-02-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Husted, Jon [R-OH] (R-OH), 2025-02-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hawley, Josh [R-MO] (R-MO), 2025-05-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] (R-IA), 2025-09-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY] (R-KY), 2025-10-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Graham, Darline [R-SC] (R-SC), 2026-07-27T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New private right to sue banks: benefit, medium. If enacted, any person could sue a covered bank or covered credit union in federal court for a fair-access violation. You would not have to go through agency steps first. A winning plaintiff could get reasonable lawyer fees, court costs, and three times the damages.
- New fair-access rules for big banks: benefit, medium. If enacted, banks with $10 billion or more in assets would usually be treated as "covered banks." Covered banks would have to offer each financial service to people in their market on proportionally equal terms. Banks could only deny service for written, pre-set, quantified risk reasons and could n…
- Card networks banned from political cutoffs: benefit, medium. If enacted, payment card networks could not block or limit access for people who follow the law because of political or reputational risk. The Comptroller of the Currency could fine a network up to 10% of the value at issue, but not more than $10,000 per violation.

## Related bills

- 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-2296: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025
- 119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- 119-s-65: Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025
- 119-sres-585: A resolution honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

## Sources
- [119-s-401 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/401)

## Related
- [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071)
- [119-s-2296: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2296)
- [119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-186)
- [119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-6)
- [119-s-65: Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-65)
- [119-sres-585: A resolution honoring the life, achievements, and legacy of Ben Nighthorse Camp…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-585)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-401 (as of 2026-09-18).