Bills
| 3.23.22

Make a Savings Deposit, Win a Raffle Prize! (H.R. 3374)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 3374?

(Updated January 31, 2017)

This bill was enacted on December 18, 2014

This bill would authorize covered financial institutions to conduct a “savings promotion raffle” through amendments to the:

This raffle would work like this: When a person makes a deposit (of a specified amount) into a savings account at their bank, they would have a chance at winning prizes. Those prizes, specified amounts, and other raffle guidelines would be set by the participating banks and their regulators.

The “savings promotion raffle” would be excluded from the ban on financial institutions selling “lottery” tickets. The bill would also amend the federal criminal code to exempt savings promotion raffles by insured banks & credit unions from prohibitions against interstate and international racketeering.

Argument in favor

Americans aren’t saving as much money as they should, and creating an incentive (prizes!) for saving money sounds like a great idea.

Argument opposed

A gimmick like a raffle isn’t going to alter the long-term trend of Americans not saving enough money.

Impact

People who have savings accounts, banks & credit unions, federal and local regulators.

Cost of H.R. 3374

A CBO cost analysis is currently unavailable.

Additional Info

 In-Depth:

The rate at which Americans save their money has dropped consistently since the early 1980s. That trend only temporarily reverses itself during or after recessions. The highest savings rate since 1960 was about 11% in 1983, and it is currently near an all-time low of 2%. A recent study confirmed this trend, showing that the median household savings rate in the U.S. is zero dollars per month. Yikes. 


Combatting America’s savings problem with savings raffles isn’t a new idea. Freakonomics and Bloomberg have both highlighted existing examples of the idea that have enjoyed success in eight states. In Michigan, the number of accounts has grown from just under 12,000 to nearly 17,000, and the amount of annual savings by individuals with accounts has increased from $734 to nearly $3000.


Media:

Press Release from Sponsoring Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA)

ABC News

American Banker

(Photo Credit: Flickr user lundyd)