Know Your American Customer Act

Summary

Requires banks and insured credit unions to verify that customers are U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawfully present before opening or continuing many accounts, and lets institutions freeze, close, or withhold distributions from accounts when verification fails. It also creates a new federal crime for non‑lawfully present individuals who open or maintain active bank accounts (and for those who use entities or others to do so), with fines and possible imprisonment.

• Banks and insured credit unions must verify U.S. citizenship, nationality, or lawful presence before opening or continuing many accounts.
• Verification for new accounts begins 90 days after enactment; existing accounts at the same institution before that date are exempt from the new-account check.
• Covered institutions may freeze, close, or withhold/redirect distributions from accounts that fail verification under set procedures.
• New criminal offense for non‑lawfully present individuals who open or maintain an "active" account, with penalties up to $1,000,000 fine and 1 year imprisonment.
• Criminal liability also covers using entities or directing others to open/maintain accounts for non‑lawfully present persons; limited exceptions apply (e.g., certain asylum pendency/90-day rules).
• Key terms are tied to existing immigration and banking statutory definitions, but the bill references qualifying documents without enumerating them.
• No new appropriations or funding source is specified for compliance costs placed on financial institutions.
• The bill distinguishes between administrative/account remedies (freezes/closures) and separate criminal penalties, while preventing prosecution solely for technical violations of the verification rule.