[Draft 5] - Access to Basic Banking and Lending

[Cessarea]

Your presumption of the material conditions of fictional nations is limited.

This now pointless argument aside, I will note to Simone that the proposal must include exceptions in application. It cannot be a proposal that reaches all nations, given its specificity in context. Nothing short of taking this into account in a future draft may change my opinion on this proposal, which so far is negative.

It is no more useful to debate the material conditions of some abstract fictional country that has perfect hermetic communism than it would be to insert optionality into a resolution requiring states to make the practice of murder illegal and to put people who do it in jail because some participant asserted that their citizens were all perfect and wonderful pacifists who would never unlawfully kill one another. If no one would murder in a country, then it should be easy to ban it. If no one wants a bank account in a country, it should be trivially easy to make them available.

Asserting that a societal statistic of a fictional country is perfect is a far cry from exploring different material conditions of the internationl context these countries may find themselves in.

[Kenmoria]

Ambassador Fortier provides an annotated copy of the draft.

The World Assembly (WA),

Affirming previous resolutions on helping those underbanked, such as GARs 474, 625 and 686;

Noting that some inhabitants of WA states may still lack access to bank accounts, saddling them with higher cost alternatives such as check cashing services or remittance agents;

Desiring to further expand the right to a bank account in order to help inhabitants;

The WA hereby enacts as follows:

1. Definitions.
   
   1. "Authority" means one or more entities designated by a WA state to enforce and interpret this resolution.
   2. "Bank" means a financial institution providing retail banking services and duly regulated by that state, and for convenience also includes institutions performing similar functions such as credit unions and savings associations. Because this is a new subclause, using “that state” in reference to the previous subclauses reference to a state does not quite work. I suggest substituting “a WA state” in place of it.
   3. "SME" means small and medium sized enterprises, as defined by the authority.
   4. "WA organ" means any of the sub-committees of the WA.
2. Availability.
   
   1. Any inhabitant of a WA state is entitled to at least one "basic account" at a bank, as defined in clause 4.
   2. The definition of "inhabitant" in this resolution is broadly defined and includes anyone with a legitimate rationale for a bank account in that state, such as a resident of that state, an authorized guest worker, an accredited diplomat, a seafarer employed by a shipping company with a home port in that WA state, or anyone seeking refugee or asylum status in that state. There is no reason for this subclause to be placed outside the definitional clause. Additionally, it could be combined with the exclusionary subclause which is below it. That would render quite a long clause, which your Excellency could address by simply removing some of the examples. “"Inhabitant” includes anyone with a legitimate rationale for a bank account in that state, such as a resident of that state, an authorized guest worker, an accredited diplomat, a seafarer employed by a shipping company with a home port in that WA state, or anyone seeking refugee or asylum status in that state, but excludes anyone not deemed legally competent in that state.”
   3. The definition of "inhabitant" excludes anyone not deemed legally competent in that state.
   4. Each authority is to regulate how basic accounts are provided in that WA state, such as through a specific bank or through multiple institutions.
3. No denial.
   
   1. No inhabitant may be denied the opening of a basic bank account due to their individual circumstances, such as having a previous criminal record or being on parole, homelessness, or having a nomadic lifestyle. Because the other items in the list are verbal phrase, “homelessness” should be “being homeless”.
   2. An inhabitant having a duly issued identity document pursuant to local laws or extant WA resolutions is deemed to satisfy the know-your-customer requirements for opening a basic account.
   3. The preceding sub-clause does not prohibit a bank from conducting additional due diligence if the customer desires a deeper relationship, such as getting a loan from that bank, or for the bank to decline such a relationship.
   4. A sole proprietorship duly established under local laws is also entitled to a basic account as defined below.
4. Basic account. A basic account must include at least all of the following services, both offline and online: Specification of a requirement that the internet is included must be paired with some provision of the General Assembly to aid member-nations in acquiring access to the internet. Otherwise, member-nations such as the People’s Republic of Kenmoria which are unable to guarantee access to the internet to their citizens due to economic hardship are unduly penalised. I would strongly supported a provision of aid of that nature.
   
   1. Savings account in the local currency(ies) of the WA state, including term deposits carrying interest;
   2. Ability to make withdrawals from the said accounts through convenient means (such as ATM cards), if cash is used in that WA state;
   3. Ability to issue and deposit checks issued in that WA state, if checks are used in that state;
   4. Access to payment mechanisms prevalent in that state, such as debit cards or other payment apps;
   5. Domestic inter-bank and intra-bank transfers, as well as remittances to and from foreign bank accounts.
5. Service standards. Each authority must ensure the following levels of service apply to all basic accounts: It is more logical to mandate that basic accounts must have the following features, rather than to mandate authorities to ensure that this is the case.
   
   1. No minimum deposit balance is required in an account.
   2. No bank may charge maintenance fees for an account.
   3. No service fee may be imposed for services specified in clause 4, except that reasonable fees may be imposed by the bank for foreign remittances as per clause (4)(e).
6. Technology. Each authority is to make reasonable efforts to promote:
   
   1. the use of more advanced technology in banking, subject to the levels of technology of that state, such as the use of payment apps, in order to reduce costs for consumers;
   2. financing of microcredit (including micro-loans) to individuals that are solo entrepreneurs;
   3. access to banking to inhabitants in physical areas or in certain vulnerable groups it deems to be under-served by banks, such as through deploying more automated technologies or facilities friendly to inhabitants with physical challenges.

[Simone Republic]

Ambassador Fortier provides an annotated copy of the draft.

[*]Basic account. A basic account must include at least all of the following services, both offline and online: Specification of a requirement that the internet is included must be paired with some provision of the General Assembly to aid member-nations in acquiring access to the internet. Otherwise, member-nations such as the People’s Republic of Kenmoria which are unable to guarantee access to the internet to their citizens due to economic hardship are unduly penalised. I would strongly supported a provision of aid of that nature.

This is the only bit I didn't change exactly according to your edits. It now reads "[a] basic account must include at least all of the following services, both offline and, if internet service is available in that WA state, online:" because I just remembered that some also roleplay as states that do not have internet access. Subsidized access to the internet I guess can go into another resolution.

What would be an economic system or situation where it would be impossible to allow citizens to have bank accounts? Not pointless or irrelevant, but actually impossible.

...Unless Communist societies are supposed to develop worker owned banks (which would deal with non-existant currency), I can't see how they're supposed to offer bank accounts. Same goes for some Socialist States.

I don't get the point. The world's four largest banks (by total assets) are the big-four Chinese banks - ICBC, CCB, ABC and BOC, respectively. The world's largest economy is China's (GDP PPP basis), and that has a currency (Renminbi).

For example, could a bank limit holders of basic accounts to only having a certain account balance at any one time, or limit the total amount that can transit through the account in a given time period, like a day, week, or month? The bank could, for example, require that any account holder wishing to have more than five hundred Mesogirian silver dollars on deposit at any one time, or who deposits and withdraws more than one thousand silver dollars in one calendar week, or who engages in more than three foreign transfers per month, must upgrade to a higher level of account that calls for maintenance fees, greater scrutiny, or both.

If the customer requires other services, they should logically be able to upgrade to a better bank account themselves. As far as I can see, a "basic account" is likely to pay a significantly lower interest on savings than other accounts, for example, to cover the cost of maintaining the account. So a reasonable person would obviously pick a better account depending on their own lifestyles.
 

I see also that accounts cannot be closed for several listed reasons, but I am curious what is meant to happen if an account is abused or used for criminal purposes? If a person were to be convicted of aiding a foreign terrorist organization by remitting money to them through a basic account, could the account be suspended or limited to prevent this in future? Could a person who repeatedly attempted to defraud the bank or others by writing bad checks be refused the issue of future checks? Can a bank refuse service to a customer that repeatedly harasses, insults, or attacks their staff, or at least require that customer to interact with the bank only through remote or secured means, so as to fulfill their duty to protect employees from harm? I'm sure I could think of many other ways a person could abuse these services if I sat and pondered it for awhile, but I think you see where I'm going here.

The wording is "with a previous criminal conviction". That's regardless of the type of criminal conviction. If they have done their time for an offence (whether it's money laundering or assault on staff), I believe it would be manifestly unfair to assume that they will commit the same offence again. London has a strict policy against assaulting staff on the Tube (as that happens frequently), there's no prohibition against people who have previously assaulted staff on the Tube or a bus from travelling on the Tube or a TfL bus.

[Simone Republic]

Draft 4

The World Assembly (WA),

Affirming previous resolutions on helping those underbanked, such as GARs 474, 625 and 686;

Noting that some inhabitants of WA states may still lack access to bank accounts, saddling them with higher cost alternatives such as check cashing services or remittance agents;

Desiring to further expand the right to a bank account in order to help inhabitants;

The WA hereby enacts as follows:

1. Definitions.
   
   1. "Authority" means one or more entities designated by a WA state to enforce and interpret this resolution.
   2. "Bank" means a financial institution providing retail banking services and duly regulated by that WA state, and for convenience also includes institutions performing similar functions such as credit unions and savings associations.
   3. "Inhabitant" includes anyone with a legitimate rationale for a bank account in that state, such as a resident of that state, an authorized guest worker, an accredited diplomat, a seafarer employed by a shipping company with a home port in that WA state, or anyone seeking refugee or asylum status in that state, but excludes anyone not deemed legally competent in that state.
   4. "SME" means small and medium sized enterprises, as defined by the authority.
   5. "WA organ" means any of the sub-committees of the WA.
2. Availability.
   
   1. Any inhabitant of a WA state is entitled to at least one "basic account" at a bank, as defined in clause 4 and clause 5.
   2. Each authority is to regulate how basic accounts are provided in that WA state, such as through a specific bank or through multiple institutions.
3. No denial.
   
   1. No inhabitant may be denied the opening of a basic bank account due to their individual circumstances, such as having a previous criminal record or being on parole, being homeless, or having a nomadic lifestyle.
   2. An inhabitant having a duly issued identity document pursuant to local laws or extant WA resolutions is deemed to satisfy the know-your-customer requirements for opening a basic account.
   3. The preceding sub-clause does not prohibit a bank from conducting additional due diligence if the customer desires a deeper relationship, such as getting a loan from that bank, or for the bank to decline such a relationship.
   4. A sole proprietorship or an SME duly established under local laws is also entitled to a basic account as defined below.
4. Basic account. A basic account must include at least all of the following services, both offline and, if internet service is available in that WA state, online:
   
   1. Savings account in the local currency(ies) of the WA state, including term deposits carrying interest;
   2. Ability to make withdrawals from the said accounts through convenient means (such as ATM cards), if cash is used in that WA state;
   3. Ability to issue and deposit checks issued in that WA state, if checks are used in that state;
   4. Access to payment mechanisms prevalent in that state, such as debit cards or other payment apps;
   5. Domestic inter-bank and intra-bank transfers, as well as remittances to and from foreign bank accounts.
5. Service standards. A basic account must have the following features:
   
   1. No minimum deposit balance is required in an account.
   2. No bank may charge maintenance fees for an account.
   3. No service fee may be imposed for services specified in clause 4, except that reasonable fees may be imposed by the bank for foreign remittances as per clause (4)(e).
6. Technology. Each authority is to make reasonable efforts to promote:
   
   1. the use of more advanced technology in banking, subject to the levels of technology of that state, such as the use of payment apps, in order to reduce costs for consumers;
   2. financing of microcredit (including micro-loans) to sole proprietors or SMEs through basic accounts;
   3. access to banking to inhabitants in physical areas or in certain vulnerable groups it deems to be under-served by banks, such as through deploying more automated technologies or facilities friendly to inhabitants with physical challenges.

This has been substantially revised with a new section on Microcredit as a quasi-replacement for GA94.

[Cessarea]

...Unless Communist societies are supposed to develop worker owned banks (which would deal with non-existant currency), I can't see how they're supposed to offer bank accounts. Same goes for some Socialist States.

I don't get the point. The world's four largest banks (by total assets) are the big-four Chinese banks - ICBC, CCB, ABC and BOC, respectively. The world's largest economy is China's (GDP PPP basis), and that has a currency (Renminbi).

China is not a Communist society. It has a State, a Currency, and Classes - by definition it cannot be Communist. Whether or not China is a Socialist State is another matter entirely, but Communism and Socialism are not the same.