Sec. 201 Restrictions on ability to use prepaid cards for tax fraud
Accounts with elevated risk of identity theft—
In general— Not later than 360 days after the date of the enactment this Act, the Federal primary financial regulatory agencies, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall jointly prescribe regulations requiring newly issued deposit or transaction account numbers, as the case may be, to be distinguishable between verified accounts and at-risk accounts.
Definitions— As used in this section—
the term “at-risk account” means any deposit account or transaction account, including accounts associated with a prepaid access arrangement, that is not a verified account;
the term “primary financial regulatory agency” has the same meaning as in section 2(12) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301(12)); and
the term “verified account” means any deposit account or transaction account in which the identity of the account holder and any prepaid access customer associated with the account is verified by—
customer identification procedures that comply with section 5318(l) of title 31, United States Code; and
direct review of an original, unexpired government-issued form of identification bearing a photograph or similar safeguard, such as a driver’s license or passport.
GAO audit of debit card issuers To ensure compliance with customer identification requirements—
Review and evaluation— The Comptroller General of the United States shall review and evaluate the effectiveness of the current Customer Identification Program rules implementing the customer identification program requirements under section 5318(l) of title 31, United States Code, as such rules apply to the prepaid card industry.
Required considerations— The review and evaluation required under paragraph (1) shall—
consider whether weaknesses in current customer identification programs are contributing to identity theft and financial loss, particularly with respect to tax fraud; and
review whether—
current risk-based standards for customer identification are the best means to prevent criminal use of prepaid cards and provide sufficient guidance and certainty to the sellers and providers of prepaid access;
current exclusions from customer identification requirements, such as exclusions for government benefit programs, are appropriate; and
Federal regulatory agencies exercise adequate oversight and supervision of customer identification practices of the prepaid card industry.
Report to Congress— Not later than 360 days after the date of the enactment this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report—
on the findings of the review and evaluation required under paragraph (1); and
containing any recommendations or proposals for legislative or administrative action to improve the customer identification practices of the prepaid card industry.