[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7428 Reported in House (RH)]
<DOC>
Union Calendar No. 650
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7428
[Report No. 118-787]
To regulate the business of offering and providing earned wage access
services to consumers, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 20, 2024
Mr. Steil (for himself and Mr. Hill) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
December 3, 2024
Additional sponsors: Mr. Donalds, Mr. Meuser, Mr. Barr, Mr.
Luetkemeyer, and Mr. Sessions
December 3, 2024
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
February 20, 2024]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To regulate the business of offering and providing earned wage access
services to consumers, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Earned Wage Access Consumer
Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. EARNED WAGE ACCESS SERVICES.
(a) Provision of Earned Wage Access Services.--
(1) No-cost option required.--If an earned wage access
provider offers a consumer the option to receive earned wages
in exchange for a fee, such earned wage access provider shall
also offer such consumer the option to obtain the same amount
of earned wages at no cost to the consumer.
(2) Required disclosures.--
(A) Disclosures preceding agreement.--Each earned
wage access provider shall disclose the following
before entering into an agreement with a consumer:
(i) Any limits on the amount of earned
wages a customer may request from such
provider, including--
(I) any limits on the amount of
earned wages a consumer may request
from the provider each day;
(II) any limits on the amount of
earned wages a consumer may request
from the provider each pay period; and
(III) any limits on the amount of
earned wages a consumer may request
from the provider that are based on a
determination by the provider of the
ratio between the amount of earned
wages requested by the consumer and the
total wages earned by the consumer, and
how such determination is made.
(ii) Any fees that such provider may apply,
and the amount of such fees, including fees
relating to expedited disbursement and
subscriptions.
(iii) A description of how the consumer may
obtain earned wages without paying a fee.
(iv) An overview of such provider's use of
voluntary payments that describes--
(I) whether such provider will
accept voluntary payments from the
consumer and in what amounts; and
(II) whether such provider will
suggest the consumer provide voluntary
payments and in what amounts.
(B) Disclosures preceding approval of request.--
Each earned wage access provider shall disclose the
following after approving any request from a consumer
for access to earned wages but before disbursing such
earned wages to such consumer:
(i) The account number such provider has
assigned to the consumer, if applicable.
(ii) The amount of earned wages that will
be provided to the consumer by such provider.
(iii) The total amount of any fees applied
by such provider.
(iv) A list of any voluntary payments the
consumer has agreed to provide.
(v) The amount that such provider intends
to collect as repayment after disbursing the
earned wages, the date on which such provider
intends to collect such amount or a description
of when such provider intends to collect such
amount, and the manner in which such provider
intends to collect such amount.
(C) Additional disclosures relating to voluntary
payments.--If an earned wage access provider solicits,
charges, or receives a voluntary payment from a
consumer, such provider--
(i) shall clearly and conspicuously
disclose to the consumer, before the provider
commences the transaction to which the
voluntary payment is related, that such
voluntary payment--
(I) is voluntary;
(II) is not a requirement for
receiving earned wage access services;
and
(III) will not impact the frequency
with which such earned wages are
disbursed to such consumer; and
(ii) may not state that such voluntary
payment will benefit any specific individual.
(D) Changes to terms.--Each earned wage access
provider shall notify each consumer with which such
earned wage access provider has entered an agreement to
offer earned wage access services of any material
changes to the terms and conditions of service used by
such provider not less than 30 days before such
material changes take effect.
(E) Regulations.--The Bureau shall, not less than
180 days after the date of the enactment of this
section, issue rules that govern the form and manner in
which the disclosures described in this section are
provided to consumers.
(3) Cancellation of services.--If an earned wage access
provider makes earned wage access services available to a
consumer on a recurring basis, such earned wage access
provider--
(A) shall allow such consumer to discontinue such
services if such consumer provides reasonable notice to
such earned wage access provider that such consumer
desires to discontinue such services; and
(B) may not impose any financial penalty on such
consumer as a result of any discontinuation of
services.
(4) Dispute process required.--Each earned wage access
provider shall develop and implement policies and procedures to
respond to questions and complaints from consumers relating
to--
(A) unauthorized disbursement of earned wages;
(B) disbursement of earned wages in an incorrect
amount;
(C) disbursed earned wages that were not received;
(D) repayment of disbursed earned wages that is not
received or was made in an incorrect amount; and
(E) voluntary payments that were not authorized or
were made in an incorrect amount.
(5) Compelling repayment of disbursed wages.--
(A) In general.--An earned wage access provider may
not seek repayment of earned wages disbursed to a
consumer by such provider by--
(i) filing a civil suit;
(ii) initiating arbitration proceedings;
(iii) using the services of a debt
collector (as such term is defined in section
803 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act);
or
(iv) selling the rights to the repayment of
the disbursed earned wages to a third-party
debt buyer.
(B) Exceptions.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply
if an earned wage access provider is--
(i) seeking repayment of earned wages
disbursed to a consumer based on information
provided by the consumer that the consumer knew
was false; or
(ii) pursuing the employer of the consumer
to which such provider disbursed earned wages
for breach of its contractual obligations to
the provider.
(6) Reimbursement required.--If an earned wage access
provider seeks repayment of disbursed earned wages, payment of
a fee, or a voluntary payment directly from a deposit account
of a consumer, on an incorrect date or in an incorrect amount,
and such attempt triggers an overdraft fee or non-sufficient
funds fee from the financial institution of the consumer, the
earned wage access provider shall reimburse such consumer for
such fee.
(7) Additional limitations.--An earned wage access provider
may not--
(A) share any fees, tips, gratuities, or other
donations that were received from or charged to a
consumer for earned wage access services with the
employer of such consumer;
(B) accept payment of fees or voluntary payments
from a consumer though a credit card of the consumer,
unless such credit card is provided to the consumer as
a part of the earned wage access service; or
(C) require a consumer to pay a late fee, deferral
fee, interest, or any other penalty or charge as a
result of a failure by the consumer to pay a fee, tip,
gratuity, or other donation requested or applied by
such provider.
(8) Disclosure to employer.--An earned wage access provider
may disclose, to an employer with which such provider has a
contract relating to earned wage access services, only such
information about earned wage access services used by consumers
who are employees of such employer as is necessary for such
earned wage access provider to recover disbursed wages.
(9) Non-discrimination.--It shall be unlawful for any
earned wage access provider to discriminate against any
consumer on the basis of race, color, religion, national
origin, sex, pregnancy, marital status, or age when offering
earned wage access services.
(b) Rulemaking.--The Bureau may issue such rules as the Bureau
determines appropriate to carry out this section.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Bureau.--The term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection.
(2) Consumer.--The term ``consumer'' means a natural
person.
(3) Earned wages.--
(A) In general.--The term ``earned wages'' means
salary, wages, compensation, or other income that a
consumer or an employer has represented and that an
earned wage access provider has reasonably determined
have been earned or have accrued to the benefit of the
consumer in exchange for the services provided by the
consumer, but that have not yet been paid to the
consumer by an employer.
(B) Services provided.--Services provided by the
consumer to the employer include any services
provided--
(i) on an hourly, project-based, piecework,
or other basis; or
(ii) when the consumer is acting as a
contractor of the employer.
(4) Earned wage access services.--The term ``earned wage
access services'' means the delivery of earned wages to a
consumer based on--
(A) employment, income, or attendance data provided
by the employer of such consumer or a payroll service
vendor contracted by the employer of such consumer; or
(B) representations made by the consumer and the
reasonable determination of the earned proceeds of such
consumer by an earned wage access provider.
(5) Earned wage access provider.--
(A) In general.--The term ``earned wage access
provider'' means a person who provides earned wage
access services to consumers.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``earned wage access
provider'' does not include--
(i) a person who is not obligated to
provide access to earned wages as part of an
earned wage access service;
(ii) an employer that offers a portion of
salary, wages, or compensation earned by a
consumer directly to such consumer prior to a
normally scheduled pay date;
(iii) a financial institution that permits
a consumer to access amounts associated with an
electronic fund transfer from the employer of
the consumer for which the financial
institution has received information but which
has not yet settled; or
(iv) a payroll service vendor that
facilitates payments to a consumer of wages
earned by such consumer.
(6) Payroll service vendor.--The term ``payroll service
vendor'' means a vendor contracted by an employer to facilitate
payment of employee wages in accordance with Federal, State,
and local law, including the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
(7) Voluntary payment.--The term ``voluntary payment''
means any payment voluntarily made by a consumer to an earned
wage access provider when accessing earned wage services,
including a tip, gratuity, or donation.
(d) Rule of Construction.--Voluntary payments and any fees paid by
a consumer to an earned wage access provider may not be construed to be
a ``finance charge'' as such term is defined in the Truth in Lending
Act.
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Section 103 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1602) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (f), by striking ``defer its payment''
and inserting ``defer its payment, but does not include earned
wage access services as defined in the Earned Wage Access
Consumer Protection Act''; and
(2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the following:
``The term creditor does not include earned wage access
providers as such term is defined in the Earned Wage Access
Consumer Protection Act.''.
Union Calendar No. 650
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7428
[Report No. 118-787]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To regulate the business of offering and providing earned wage access
services to consumers, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
December 3, 2024
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed