H.R. 8720 — Campaign Finance Transparency Act

This section requires political committees to obtain the card verification value or code and ZIP Code of the billing address before accepting any internet credit or debit card contribution. It further requires the contributor’s mailing address to be located in a State or, for contributors outside a State, submission of a U.S. passport, voter registration address, permanent resident card, or comparable identification. The section exempts digital wallet payments and subsequent recurring contributions using the same card, requires forwarding of such contributions to the treasurer within 10 days, and imposes an affirmative duty to refund noncompliant contributions.

This section prohibits political committees from accepting any credit or debit card contribution unless the name on the card matches the name of the individual or entity making the contribution.

This section prohibits political committees from knowingly accepting contributions made through gift certificates or store gift cards, as defined under section 915(a) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act. It requires a treasurer who becomes aware of a noncompliant contribution to refund it and deems a committee compliant if it shows best efforts to meet the prohibition.

This section requires political committees to report all contributions received, regardless of amount, by eliminating the $200 aggregate threshold (or election cycle threshold for authorized committees of candidates for Federal office).

This section prohibits knowingly directing, helping, or assisting any person in making a contribution in the name of another person. It also requires any recipient who suspects such a contribution to report it to the Federal Election Commission.

This section directs the Federal Election Commission to promulgate regulations within 90 days after enactment to implement the amendments made by this Act, after consulting with representatives of payment card networks, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 1693o–2(c), and other relevant stakeholders.

This section delays the effective date of amendments made by this Act until 90 days after the Commission promulgates regulations under section 7, applying them only to contributions made after that date.