South Carolina H 4616: Guarantee Banking Act

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4616 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 17, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4616

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE 
SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS SO AS TO ENACT THE "GUARANTEE BANKING ACT"; AND BY 
ADDING CHAPTER 47 TO TITLE 34 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR FAIRNESS AND TRANSPARENCY IN 
BANKING.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 
1. This act may 
be cited as the "Guarantee Banking Act."

SECTION 2. Title 34 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

CHAPTER 47

Guarantee 
Banking

 Section 
34-47-10. As used in this chapter:

 (1) "Adverse action" means a decision 
by a financial institution to directly or indirectly decline to provide full 
and equal enjoyment in the provision of covered financial services and includes 
refusing to provide, terminating, or restricting covered financial services.

 (2) "Discriminate in the provision of 
covered financial services" means taking an adverse action against a customer 
on the basis of one of the following criteria:

 (a) any person's exercise of religion 
that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, 
federal law, or the Constitution or laws of this State, including all aspects 
of religious observance and practice, as well as belief and affiliation;

 (b) any person's speech, expression, 
opinions, expressive activity, or association that is protected by the First 
Amendment to the United States Constitution, federal law, or the Constitution 
or laws of this State, including the lawful preservation of privacy regarding 
those activities, such as declining to disclose contributions or political 
activity beyond what is required by applicable state and federal law. This 
subitem does not include speech that the United States Supreme Court has 
expressly held is unprotected, such as obscenity, fraud, incitement, true 
threats, fighting words, or defamation;

 (c) any person's participation in 
lawful economic activity;

 (d) animus towards a person based on 
the factors in subitems (a), (b), or (c); and

 (e) a desire to, directly or 
indirectly, obtain a gain from or avoid a loss imposed on the covered financial 
institution by any person for the purpose of encouraging the covered financial 
institution to take an adverse action based on any of the factors in subitems 
(a), (b), or (c).

 (3)(a) "Financial institution" means:

 (i) a bank that has total assets over 
one hundred billion dollars; or

 (ii) a payment processor, credit card 
company, credit card network, payment network, payment service provider, or 
payment gateway that has processed more than one hundred billion dollars in 
transactions in the last calendar year.

 (b) A financial institution includes 
any parent company, holding company, affiliate, or subsidiary company, even if 
that company is also a financial institution.

 (4)(a) "Covered financial service" means:

 (i) depository accounts including, but 
not limited to, checking accounts, savings accounts, or NOW accounts;

 (ii) money transmission including, but 
not limited to, checking, payment services, ACH, or credit card networks; or

 (iii) credit including, but not 
limited to, personal loans, mortgages, business loans, or credit cards.

 (b) "Covered financial service" does 
not include the provision of insurance or the underwriting of or an investment 
in a security as defined by federal law.

 (5) "Person" means any individual, 
partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, nonprofit 
organization, or other business or legal entity.

 Section 
34-47-20. (A) If a financial 
institution takes an adverse action against a person, that person may request a 
statement of specific reasons within ninety days after receiving notice of the 
refusal to provide service, restriction of service, or termination of service.

 (B) The person may request the 
statement from a customer service representative or designated account 
representative by phone, U.S. mail, or electronic mail.

 (C) Unless otherwise prohibited by 
federal law, the financial institution shall transmit the statement of specific 
reasons via U.S. mail and electronic mail, if known to the financial 
institution, within thirty days of receiving the person's request.

 (D) The statement must be specific and 
include a description of the principal reason for the adverse action. A 
statement that the adverse action was based on the institution's internal 
standards or policies or that the person failed to achieve a qualifying score 
on the institution's credit scoring system are insufficient. If any criteria 
listed in Section 34-47-10(2) factored into the institution's decision to take 
an adverse action, it must be described in the statement.

 (E) If the financial institution 
pr