Connecticut General Statutes 36a-309 – Basic banking accounts
(a) For purposes of this section:
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 36a-309
- Bank: means a Connecticut bank or a federal bank. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- Commissioner: means the Banking Commissioner and, with respect to any function of the commissioner, includes any person authorized or designated by the commissioner to carry out that function. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- Company: means any corporation, joint stock company, trust, association, partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated organization, limited liability company or similar organization, but does not include (A) any corporation the majority of the shares of which are owned by the United States or by any state, or (B) any trust which by its terms shall terminate within twenty-five years or not later than twenty-one years and ten months after the death of beneficiaries living on the effective date of the trust. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Connecticut bank: means a bank and trust company, savings bank or savings and loan association chartered or organized under the laws of this state. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- Connecticut credit union: means a cooperative, nonprofit financial institution that (A) is organized under chapter 667 and the membership of which is limited as provided in section 36a-438a, (B) operates for the benefit and general welfare of its members with the earnings, benefits or services offered being distributed to or retained for its members, and (C) is governed by a volunteer board of directors elected by and from its membership. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Demand deposit: means a deposit that is payable on demand, a deposit issued with an original maturity or required notice period of less than seven days or a deposit representing funds for which the bank does not reserve the right to require at least seven days' written notice of the intended withdrawal, but does not include any time deposit. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- Deposit: means funds deposited with a depository. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- Depositor: includes a member of a mutual savings and loan association. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- Loan: includes any line of credit or other extension of credit. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) Source: OCC
- Savings bank: means an institution chartered or organized under the laws of this state as a savings bank. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
- State: means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, any territory of the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the trust territory of the Pacific Islands, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. See Connecticut General Statutes 36a-2
(1) “Banking institution” means any bank, trust company, savings bank, savings and loan association or credit union, or branch of a foreign banking corporation, the deposits of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the National Credit Union Administration, as applicable, that is incorporated, chartered, organized or licensed under the laws of this state or any other state or the United States, and, in the ordinary course of its business, offers consumer transaction accounts to the general public or, in the case of a credit union, to its members;
(2) “Basic banking account” means a consumer transaction account that meets the requirements established under subsections (c) and (d) of this section;
(3) “Branch” has the same meaning as provided in section 36a-145; and
(4) “Consumer transaction account” means a demand deposit account, negotiable order of withdrawal account, share draft account or similar account used primarily for personal, family or household purposes.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, on and after July 1, 2023, each banking institution shall make available to consumers residing in the state a basic banking account as described in subsections (c) to (e), inclusive, of this section. No banking institution shall be required to make such basic banking account available at any branch or other office such banking institution maintains outside of the state.
(c) A basic banking account shall: (1) Not include fees for (A) overdrafts, (B) nonsufficient funds, (C) account activation, (D) account closure, (E) dormancy, (F) inactivity, or (G) low balance; (2) offer to the depositor at no additional charge (A) a debit card, (B) ATM in-network access, (C) deposits, (D) check cashing for checks issued by the banking institution at which the consumer holds the basic banking account, and (E) electronic monthly statements; and (3) not include (A) a minimum initial deposit that is greater than twenty-five dollars, (B) a minimum balance to maintain such account that is greater than twenty-five dollars, or (C) a charge to maintain such account that is greater than ten dollars per periodic cycle. The terms and conditions of a basic banking account may provide that the banking institution shall not pay any check, electronic transaction or any other type of transaction that would cause the basic banking account to be overdrawn. Nothing in this subsection shall require a banking institution to include additional enhanced account features, such as preferred or incentive interest rates or rewards programs, with a basic banking account.
(d) Except as provided in this section, a basic banking account may be offered, subject to the same rules, conditions and terms normally applicable to the consumer transaction account offered by the banking institution that is most similar to its basic banking account.
(e) (1) A banking institution that posts, in the public area of its branches and offices in the state, notice of the availability of its consumer transaction accounts other than its basic banking accounts shall also post equally conspicuous notice, in the same public areas of its branches and offices in the state and in the same manner, of the availability of its basic banking accounts. A banking institution that makes available in the public area of its branches and offices in the state material describing the terms of its other consumer transaction accounts, other than its basic banking accounts, shall also make comparable descriptive material available, in the same such public area of its branches and offices in the state and in the same manner, for its basic banking account.
(2) A banking institution that posts in the public area of its branches and offices in the state the notices described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, shall also post equally conspicuous notice, in the same public area of its branches and offices in the state and in the same manner, of the Department of Banking’s toll-free consumer hotline number that may be used to file a complaint if a consumer is not satisfied with the services a banking institution provides.
(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any banking institution that makes available to consumers (1) an alternative account or other banking services determined by the Banking Commissioner to be an appropriate substitute for the basic banking account, or (2) a consumer transaction account that provides (A) the core features set forth in the Bank On National Account Standards, as amended from time to time, or (B) any similar standards, as determined by the Banking Commissioner, shall be in compliance with this section.
(g) The Banking Commissioner shall, in the course of evaluating the performance of a Connecticut bank or a Connecticut credit union in meeting its obligations under part II of chapter 664a, provide credit to such bank or credit union for offering a basic banking account.