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119-s-4206119th CongressWALLET

Know Your American Customer Act

Sponsored By: Senator Cotton, Tom [R-AR]

Introduced

Summary

Verify citizenship or lawful presence for retail bank accounts. This bill would require insured banks and credit unions to check specific identity and immigration documents before opening or continuing most individual deposit accounts.

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  • People not lawfully present in the United States would generally be barred from opening or maintaining an account at a covered institution.
  • People with a limited period of authorized stay would need to certify their basis and expiration on a Treasury form. They would get a 30-day full-access grace period after expiration and a 60-day restricted period where deposits are allowed but withdrawals and transfers are blocked unless they update documentation.
  • Covered institutions would have to verify listed documents starting 90 days after enactment, such as REAL ID-compliant state IDs, U.S. passports, birth certificates, permanent resident cards, or DHS I-94/visa records. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network would enforce civil penalties, safe harbors would protect good-faith reliance, and accounts opened by legal entities are excluded.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 2 costs, 1 mixed.

Account bans for people without lawful presence

If enacted, covered banks and credit unions generally could not open or keep accounts for people who are not lawfully present in the United States. For people who opened accounts using a temporary authorized stay, the bill would require a Treasury form showing the stay and its end date. After that stay ends you would have 30 days of full access, then 60 days where the bank must allow deposits but may block withdrawals, transfers, card use, and wires; if you do not provide updated proof by the end of the 60 days the account may be closed. The bill would also make opening or keeping an active account while not lawfully present a criminal offense punishable by up to $1,000,000, up to 1 year in jail, or both, with limited exceptions for recent expirations and pending asylum claims.

Exempt business and foreign accounts

If enacted, the verification and eligibility rules would not apply to accounts opened by legal entities such as corporations or partnerships. The rules would also exclude accounts held by nonresident aliens who are not physically in the U.S., accounts of foreign persons or entities not resident or present in the U.S., deposits attributable to foreign sources at foreign bank branches, and other correspondent or international banking liabilities reported under Treasury frameworks.

New ID checks to open accounts

If enacted, beginning 90 days after enactment, people who try to open most retail accounts at insured banks or credit unions would have to show one original or certified document proving U.S. citizenship or lawful presence. Acceptable documents would include REAL ID driver's licenses or IDs, U.S. passports or passport cards, birth certificates, Certificates of Naturalization or Citizenship, green cards, an unexpired foreign passport with a DHS I-94 or valid visa, Social Security proof with a state ID, DoD IDs for service members, or any DHS-designated document. Joint account holders or authorized signers added after that 90-day date would also need verification. The bill says covered institutions are insured depository institutions and insured credit unions and ties "lawful presence" to DHS determinations.

Bank enforcement rules and protections

If enacted, the Treasury would enforce these rules through FinCEN and coordinate with the National Credit Union Administration for credit unions. The Treasury must issue interim guidance within 30 days and final regulations within 90 days covering freeze and close procedures, notices, handling incoming payments to frozen or closed accounts, and moving remaining balances. Covered institutions could face civil penalties for violations, but the bill creates safe-harbors when banks act in good faith, rely on the listed documents, or accept State IDs that themselves require proof of lawful presence. The bill also says federal law would supersede conflicting state rules on verification.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Cotton, Tom [R-AR]

AR • R

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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