Senate Bill S163

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    163
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  RAMOS,  COMRIE, JACKSON -- read twice and ordered
   printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Banks
 
 AN ACT to amend the banking law, in relation to mandating acceptance  of
   the New York city identity card as a primary form of identification at
   all covered entities
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the  "pro-bank-
 ing act".
   §  2.  Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds and declares
 that:
   (a) Local law no. 35 for the year 2014 amended subchapter 1 of chapter
 1 of title 3 of the administrative code of  the  city  of  New  York  by
 adding  a  section  3-115,  creating  the  New  York  city identity card
 program. One of the main objectives of the program was to expand  access
 to  bank-approved  identification  cards, thereby reducing the number of
 unbanked residents across the city. In 2015, federal regulatory authori-
 ties notified the city agencies in charge of administering  the  program
 that  banks  could  use  the  New York city identity card to satisfy the
 minimum requirements of federal anti-money laundering laws. In 2016, the
 New York State Department of Financial  Services  further  "encourage[d]
 New  York  state-chartered and licensed financial institutions to accept
 the Municipal ID as a form of acceptable identification card."
   (b) Despite authorization by federal and state regulatory authorities,
 only approximately one-third of city banks  accept  the  New  York  city
 identity  card, leaving many city residents on the margins of the finan-
 cial system. As of 2017, 11.2 percent of households in New York city had
 no bank account and ten neighborhoods accounted for nearly 35 percent of
 those households. Residents of color, undocumented residents, and  resi-
 dents  living below the poverty line are disproportionately impacted and

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD00747-01-5
 S. 163                              2
 
 are at greater risk of falling victim to predatory  financial  services,
 imperiling  their  financial futures and aggravating economic inequality
 across the state.
   (c) The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that our most vulner-
 able  residents  are  not  cut  off  from  traditional banking services.
 Mandating acceptance of the New York city identity card  at  state-char-
 tered  financial  institutions  will  allow all residents to build their
 financial futures and advance the state's goal of  facilitating  broader
 financial inclusion.
   §  3. The banking law is amended by adding a new section 13 to read as
 follows:
   § 13. ACCEPTANCE OF NEW YORK CITY IDENTITY CARD.  1.  DEFINITIONS.  AS
 USED IN THIS SECTION:
   (A)  "NEW  YORK CITY IDENTITY CARD" REFERS TO THE IDENTITY CARD ISSUED
 BY THE CITY OF NEW YORK PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION C OF  SECTION  3-115  OF
 THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
   (B)  "COVERED ENTITY" MEANS ALL BANKING ORGANIZATIONS, FOREIGN BANKING
 CORPORATIONS LICENSED BY THE  SUPERINTENDENT,  AND  INTERSTATE  BRANCHES
 ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO ARTICLE FIVE-C OF THIS CHAPTER.
   2.  COVERED ENTITIES SHALL ACCEPT THE NEW YORK CITY IDENTITY CARD AS A
 PRIMARY SOURCE OF IDENTIFICATION FOR ACCOUNT-OPENING  PURPOSES.  IN  THE
 EVENT  A CUSTOMER'S NEW YORK CITY IDENTITY CARD DOES NOT CONTAIN A RESI-
 DENTIAL OR BUSINESS STREET ADDRESS, A COVERED ENTITY SHALL  NOT  DENY  A
 CUSTOMER  ACCOUNT-OPENING  SERVICES, PROVIDED THE CUSTOMER CAN FURNISH A
 RESIDENTIAL OR BUSINESS STREET ADDRESS OF THEIR NEXT OF KIN  OR  ANOTHER
 CONTACT   INDIVIDUAL  CONSISTENT  WITH  FEDERAL  LAWS  AND  REGULATIONS.
 RECEIPT OF A NEW YORK CITY IDENTITY CARD SHALL BE DEEMED TO SATISFY  THE
 CUSTOMER  IDENTIFICATION  PROGRAM  REQUIREMENTS  OF ALL COVERED ENTITIES
 CONSISTENT WITH LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE STATE  OF  NEW  YORK.
 NOTHING  IN SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION TWELVE-A OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE
 DEEMED TO ANNUL THIS SECTION.
   3. THE SUPERINTENDENT  IS  EMPOWERED  TO  EXEMPT  ANY  COVERED  ENTITY
 SUBJECT  TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION UPON A DEMONSTRATION THAT IT
 WOULD BE UNABLE TO COMPLY WITH RELEVANT  FEDERAL  LAWS  OR  REGULATIONS,
 INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION PROGRAMS REGARDING
 ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING LAWS, OR UPON A DEMONSTRATION OF OTHER REASONS FOR
 INABILITY TO COMPLY THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT FINDS SUFFICIENT.
   § 4. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part
 of  this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to
 be invalid and after exhaustion of  all  further  judicial  review,  the
 judgment  shall  not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof,
 but shall be confined in its operation to the  clause,  sentence,  para-
 graph,  section or part of this act directly involved in the controversy
 in which the judgment shall have been rendered.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.  Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be  made  and
 completed on or before such effective date.