SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives approved legislation 131-0 to improve and reinstate access to banking and credit union accounts for Minnesotans.
“Minnesotans deserve economic security, and the tools to secure finances safely through accessing a bank or credit union,” said Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL-Minneapolis), lead author of the legislation.
Current law prevents a bank or credit union from re-issuing an account to an individual whose account closed involuntarily because of issuing dishonored checks (checks with insufficient funds) in the last 12 months, or who has been convicted of a crime related to check cashing. This is to help protect financial institutions from fraud, but it can also prevent people from having access to traditional financial institutions.
Representative Davnie’s legislation allows financial institutions the option to offer service to individuals who may have had an account canceled and don’t have access to other traditional financial services.
A video of the floor session will be available here.