{"data":{"id":"us-sc/s.c.-code-ann.-34-49-10","jurisdiction":"us-sc","citation":"S.C. Code Ann. § 34-49-10","heading":"Definitions.","body":"As used in this chapter:\n(1) \"Adverse action\" means a decision by a financial institution to decline to provide full and equal access in the provision of covered financial services and includes refusing to provide, terminating, or restricting covered financial services. \"Adverse action\" does not include the temporary suspension or restriction of an account pending an internal investigation, fraud review, or verification of identity.\n(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:\n(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;\n(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 section does not prohibit a financial institution from declining to provide financial services to a person that is engaged in fraud, criminal conduct, incitement to unlawful actions, or that creates obscenity or another form of expression that is not protected by the Constitution of South Carolina or the United States Constitution;\n(c) any factor if it is not a quantitative, impartial, and risk-based standard, including any such factor related to the person's business sector;\n(d) animus towards a person based on the factors in subitem (a), (b), or (c); and\n(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 subitem (a), (b), or (c).\n(3)(a) \"Financial institution\" means:\n(i) a bank that has total assets over one hundred billion dollars; or\n(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.\n(b) A financial institution includes any parent company, holding company, affiliate, or subsidiary company, even if that company is also a financial institution.\n(4)(a) \"Covered financial service\" means:\n(i) depository accounts including, but not limited to, checking accounts, savings accounts, or NOW accounts;\n(ii) money transmission including, but not limited to, checking, payment services, ACH, or credit card networks; or\n(iii) credit including, but not limited to, personal loans, mortgages, business loans, or credit cards.\n(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.\n(5) \"Person\" means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, nonprofit organization, or other business or legal entity that is a resident of this State or has its principal place of business in this State.","path":["Title 34 - BANKING, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND MONEY","CHAPTER 49 Guarantee Banking"],"source_url":"https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t34c049.php","current_through":"2026 Session of the General Assembly","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-10-25T03:39:55Z","sha256":"8980dd2d6861784a6374dfebe9a914431f2c290a31c2fe1be764c7a55380f65c","source_id":"us-sc","stale":false,"prev":"us-sc/s.c.-code-ann.-34-47-70","next":"us-sc/s.c.-code-ann.-34-49-20"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}