The Saving Privacy Act aims to enhance financial privacy for individuals and businesses while limiting government regulatory and surveillance powers across several domains. It fundamentally amends the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978, requiring a search warrant for government authorities to access customer financial records, thereby eliminating other less stringent access methods.

The bill also significantly reforms the Bank Secrecy Act by repealing many of its reporting requirements, including those related to suspicious activity, foreign financial accounts, and certain financial transactions. Its revised purpose focuses solely on requiring financial institutions to retain transaction records identifiable to customers, rather than broad data collection for government use. This represents a substantial reduction in the scope of financial surveillance.

A key provision of the bill is the termination of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), a centralized database collecting personally identifiable information in securities markets. It prohibits the Securities and Exchange Commission and self-regulatory organizations from administering CAT and prevents any federal agency from establishing similar databases without specific statutory authorization. Entities that collected fees for CAT are also required to reimburse them.

The legislation explicitly prohibits the creation and issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the Federal Reserve or other agencies directly to individuals or digital currency intermediaries. It also forbids offering related products or services and maintaining accounts for individuals, aiming to prevent government control over personal finances through digital currency.

Under Title V, known as the REINS Act, the bill overhauls the process for federal agency rulemaking. It requires Congressional approval for all "major rules"—defined as those with a significant economic impact or affecting mandatory vaccinations—before they can take effect. Agencies must submit detailed reports, including cost-benefit analyses, for Congressional review, and existing eligible rules will undergo annual review with a sunset provision if not approved by Congress.

The bill strengthens enforcement of financial privacy by establishing new criminal penalties for government agencies or financial institutions that knowingly violate the Right to Financial Privacy Act. It also increases civil penalties for violations to a minimum of $1,000 per day, along with attorney's fees and compensatory damages, and allows for writs of mandamus to ensure compliance.

Additionally, the Act addresses online payments by repealing recent modifications to third-party network transaction reporting requirements, effectively restoring the higher reporting thresholds of $20,000 and 200 transactions for tax purposes. Finally, the "Keep Your Coins Act" title prohibits federal agencies from restricting individuals' ability to use convertible virtual currencies for personal purchases or to conduct transactions through self-hosted wallets, safeguarding individual autonomy in digital asset use.