The Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act passed the House last week by voice vote. H.R. 749 would amend the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act by eliminating a requirement that privacy policy notices be mailed to consumers annually. Should the bill pass the Senate and be signed by President Obama, the privacy mailing would only be required of financial institutions if the policy had changed.
Similar legislation, which like H.R. 749 was sponsored by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), passed the House during the lame duck session last year, but it was not considered by the Senate. Financial institutions, including banks, support the bill, but some consumer advocates have opposed it, saying it erodes consumer protections.
"For the second time, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives have supported this common sense legislation that would eliminate unnecessary, costly, confusing and often ignored mailings that clog up people's mailboxes, and I am confident that the Senate will embrace this legislation as well," Luetkemeyer said in a release. "This bill will reduce costs passed onto the customers of banks and credit unions and will make it more likely that people will pay closer attention to important mailings they receive from their financial institutions."
After the bill passed the House, NAFCU sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urging their swift action to pass the legislation.
"The privacy notice, for most institutions, is readily available for viewing online, as well as available at branch locations for consumers to acquire if they so wish. The exception will allow credit unions to focus their resources on providing low-cost financial services to their members without disturbing consumer privacy policy availability," the letter said. It added that the current mailing requirement stands in stark contrast to the trend of consumers and businesses attempting to go green.
CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney issued a statement saying, "We will next urge the Senate to take note of today's strong House vote and act promptly in similar fashion to enact this important piece of legislation." ICBA President/CEO Camden R. Fine said the bill will help save banks a lot of time and resources.
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