Expanded Access to Financial Services Act of 2005

EXPANDED ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICES ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - April 26, 2005)

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Mr. GERLACH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Oxley) for taking up this bill so quickly, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) for his work on behalf of this important legislation. I would also like to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez), the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kanjorski), the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) for their efforts as well.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 749, the Expanded Access to Financial Services Act. This bipartisan legislation will amend the Federal Credit Union Act to allow credit unions to offer money order, check cashing, and wire transfer services to anyone who is eligible to be a credit union member, whether or not they have credit union membership. The bill is identical to section 307 of H.R. 1375, the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act, which passed the House by a vote of 392 to 25 on March 18, 2004.

H.R. 748 reaches out to individuals who, for whatever reason, do not have established bank accounts. These unbanked Americans, estimated to be up to 10 million households, are frequently charged high fees for a variety of financial services. By bringing competition to the marketplace, we can provide our constituents access to lower-fee alternatives.

Many of those who would utilize these services are hardworking immigrants trying to wire money home to help provide for their families. According to the Pew Hispanic Center and Multilateral Investment Fund, $10 million is sent back to Latin America each year, a figure that can more than double in the next 5 years.

It is my hope that the underserved persons who are reached by this bill will be able to use these services to establish a credit history that can then allow them to take advantage of other financial services. An initial positive experience with a depository institution may encourage the "unbanked" to explore other financial products.

Further, bringing immigrant workers into financial institutions is important for national security. Credit unions are required to follow the recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act. They must also determine that customers are in the field of membership, a process that would involve personal documentation review. Having international money transfers go through regulated financial institutions makes it easier for law enforcement officials to learn of and follow suspicious activity.

This legislation has the support of the National Credit Union Administration, the Credit Union National Association, and National Association of Federal Credit Unions.

H.R. 749 is a good, bipartisan bill. It reaches out to communities that have historically been left out of the financial services arena and encourages hardworking Americans to develop relationships with financial institutions. I hope the Members will choose today to give their constituents access to affordable financial services.

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