Tipton Legislation Making Mobile Banking Obtainable for Rural Colorado Clears Important Hurdle

WASHINGTON D.C. – Congressman Scott Tipton’s (CO-03) Making Online Banking Initiation Legal and Easy Act of 2017 (H.R. 1457), otherwise known as the MOBILE Act, has been approved unanimously by the full Financial Services Committee and will now move to the House Floor for consideration.

“Providing mobile financial services access to unbanked and underserved households has been proven to improve their financial outcomes,” said Tipton. “Unfortunately, access to mobile financial services products is not equal across the United States, leaving some communities unable to open accounts from their mobile device.”

The MOBILE Act would fix this problem by creating a uniform regulatory standard that would give consumers the ability – if they so choose – to authorize their bank to use the personal information on their driver’s license or identification card for the purpose of opening a bank account.

Additionally, the bill prioritizes protecting consumer privacy information and respects state privacy laws, as well as requires that a financial institution delete all copies of a driver’s license after using the information for the express purpose of opening account.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), at least 67 million people in the United States are under- or –unbanked and could benefit from the ability to access financial services from their mobile device.

Tipton’s statement can be viewed here.

An audio file of his statement can be downloaded here.

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