Referred to the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Apr 15, 2011
Bank Accessibility Act - Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 with respect to the requirement that, in examining a financial institution, the appropriate federal financial supervisory agency assess and take into account the institution's record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.
Requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agency, in making such an assessment, to consider as factors: (1) the branch distribution of such institutions in low- to moderate-income communities; and (2) the services provided to borrowers in such communities by such institutions, including free check cashing and debit card and ATM services. Requires the consideration of such factors to be weighted to account for approximately 33% of the institutions's rating.
Requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agency to prescribe regulations that, in the case of any regulated financial institution receiving a low rating with respect to such factors, deny any of the institution's merger or expansion requests; and (2) impose a civil money penalty on the institution.
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Requires deposit of collected civil monetary penalties in accounts made available to carry out the appropriate federal financial supervisory agency's responsibilities under the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977.
Requires the appropriate federal financial supervisory agency to prescribe regulations that reward a regulated financial institution that receives a high rating with respect to such factors.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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