The E-SIGN Modernization Act (S. 4159) should be included in the next phase of COVID-19 relief legislation, CUNA and other trade organizations wrote to Senate leaders supporting the bill Thursday. The bill was introduced earlier this month by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
The bill would remove the requirement in the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act requiring consumers to reasonably demonstrate their ability to access information electronically prior to consenting to electronic records.
“The E-SIGN Modernization Act addresses a simple but important problem: federal law preferences paper-based processes over equivalent digital options that are beneficial at times of disruption. Consumers who request to engage digitally with companies through services, such as online banking, must jump through additional hoops that are not required when they choose paper-based processes delivered through arguably less-efficient methods, such as the mail.”
The organizations note that the onset of the pandemic has made complying with the E-SIGN Act’s reasonable demonstration requirement challenging, as financial institutions have faced hurdles to quickly implement loan modifications, transfer balances, complete service requests begun on paper over the phone, or fulfill requests from displaced consumers for access to digital services.
The organizations also note:
CUNA wrote to Congressional leaders earlier this week with a list of priorities for the next phase of COVID-19 relief legislation.