,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #agda  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,november #bj1 
#bjac,mr4 ,markey introduced the        
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,armed   
,services  ,a ,,bill  ,to direct the    
,under ,secretary of ,defense           
7,comptroller7 to carry out a pilot     
program to develop innovative consumer  
financial products that encourage       
savings and wealth-creation among       
members of the ,armed ,forces on active 
duty4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may  
be cited as the ,military ,savings ,act 
of #bjac4  #b4 ,consumer financial      
products pilot program  7a7 ,in general 
,the ,under ,secretary of ,defense      
7,comptroller7 shall carry out a #e-year
 pilot program to develop innovative    
consumer financial products that        
encourage savings and wealth-creation   
among members of the ,armed ,forces on  
active duty4  7b7 ,objectives ,financial
 products developed under this section  

may be designed to-- 7#a7 increase the  
rate of savings among members of the    
,armed ,forces on active duty by        
providing automatic deposit into a      
savings account of special pay and      
allowances received by such a member1   
including special pay and allowances    
received on account of the deployment of
 the member2  7#b7 reduce the need for  
high-cost short-term lending services by
 providing alternatives to members of   
the ,armed ,forces on active duty1 such 
as financial institutions providing an  
option for such members to receive      
advances on their salary payments-- 7,a7
 in a manner that permits such members  
to receive pay in more frequent         
installments2 and  7,b7 under which any 
interest or fees on such advances-- 7i7 
does not exceed the rate described in   
section #ihg7;b7 of title #aj1 ,united  
,states ,code2 and  7ii7 adheres to the 
,affordable ,small-,dollar ,loan        
,guidelines of the ,federal ,deposit    
,insurance ,corporation2  7#c7 address  

obstacles to traditional consumer       
banking and lending for members of the  
,armed ,forces with limited credit      
history2 and  7#d7 otherwise encourage  
savings and wealth-creation among       
members of the ,armed ,forces on active 
duty4  7c7 ,no exacerbation of credit   
overextension ,the pilot program carried
 out under this section shall be carried
 out in a manner that does not          
exacerbate the incidence of credit      
overextension among members of the      
,armed ,forces4  7d7 ,implementation    
7#a7 ,selection of military             
installations ,the ,under ,secretary    
shall select at least #aj military      
installations on which to implement the 
pilot program4  7#b7 ,incorporation into
 operating agreements ,a financial      
institution seeking to begin operating  
on a military installation selected by  
the ,under ,secretary under paragraph   
7#a71 or seeking to renew an agreement  
to operate on such an installation1     
shall-- 7,a7 agree to offer the consumer

 financial products developed under this
 section2 and  7,b7 notify members of   
the ,armed ,forces that are customers of
 the institution about the availability 
of the consumer financial products      
developed under this section4  7e7      
,consultation ,in developing consumer   
financial products under this section1  
the ,under ,secretary shall consult with
 ,federal banking regulators with       
expertise in depository institutions1   
,federal agencies with experience       
regulating financial products1 and      
consumer and military service           
organizations with relevant financial   
expertise4  7f7 ,independent evaluation 
7#a7 ,in general ,not later than the    
date that is #b years after the date of 
the enactment of this ,act1 and annually
 thereafter until the end of the pilot  
program1 the ,under ,secretary shall    
contract for an independent evaluation  
of the pilot program carried out under  
this section4 ,such evaluation shall--  
7,a7 include the degree to which the    

pilot program succeeded in the goals of 
increasing usage of savings products1   
programs1 and tools among members of the
 ,armed ,forces on active duty2 and     
7,b7 be conducted by a contractor with  
knowledge of consumer financial products
 and experience in the evaluation of    
such products4  7#b7 ,report ,after each
 evaluation carried out pursuant to     
paragraph 7#a71 the ,under ,secretary   
shall submit to the ,committees on      
,armed ,services and ,banking1 ,housing1
 and ,urban ,affairs of the ,senate and 
the ,committees on ,armed ,services and 
,financial ,services of the ,house of   
,representatives a report containing all
 findings and conclusions made by the   
contractor in conducting the evaluation4
  7g7 ,expansion of pilot program       
,notwithstanding subsection 7a71 the    
,under ,secretary may expand the pilot  
program1 including extending the        
duration of the program and expanding   
the program to make it a nationwide     
program1 to the extent determined       

appropriate by the ,under ,secretary1 if
 the ,under ,secretary determines that  
such expansion is expected to-- 7#a7    
improve the rates of savings among      
members of the ,armed ,forces and their 
families2 or  7#b7 decrease the need for
 members of the ,armed ,forces and their
 families to rely on payday lenders     
without exacerbating credit             
overextension4  7h7 ,financial          
institution defined ,in this section1   
the term financial institution means an 
insured depository institution 7as      
defined in section #c7;c77#b7 of the    
,federal ,deposit ,insurance ,act 7#ab  
,u4,s4,c4 #ahac7;c77#b777 or a credit   
union4