H.R. 5817, the bill that would provide an exemption to Gramm-Leach-Bliley annual privacy notification requirements, passed the House as expected by voice vote on Wednesday.

Should the bill become law, credit unions would only be required to provide privacy disclosures to members when they first open their account, and again only when the policy changes.

Currently, financial institutions are required to send the disclosure annual via mail, regardless of whether it has changed.

“This legislation eliminates an unnecessary, redundant and costly annual privacy policy notice requirement. It will save credit unions valuable staff resources, lower the cost of financial services, and reverse the negative environmental impact caused by such a requirement, while not harming consumers,” said NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Dan Berger.

The bill now awaits consideration by the Senate.  Credit union lobbyists have said that while the bill is not controversial, it does lack familiarity in the Senate, so the upper chamber would have to be educated on the issue.

“Since there has been no companion bill introduced in the Senate, it hasn't made a lot of sense to talk about the legislation, especially given the other things we have been working on in Senate,” said CUNA Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs Ryan Donovan. “We will reach out and see what appetite the Senate has for one more piece of regulatory legislation.”

CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney agreed. He said the bill “would eliminate a costly and unnecessary compliance burden by eliminating repetitive notices that are often ignored by consumers. Further, it enhances consumer protection by ensuring that when a consumer receives a privacy notification, it has significance and is not redundant.”