Consumer Debit Card Protection Act of 2014

Bill: 113-s-2200
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
Introduced: 2014-04-02
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Civil actions and liability

Consumer credit

Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Latest action: action_date: 2014-04-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2014-04-02
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>Consumer Debit Card Protection Act of 2014 - Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to require a financial institution to recredit a consumer's account within 7 days (currently, 10 days) after receiving notice of an error in the manner of an electronic debit transaction.</p> <p>Limits consumer liability for unauthorized use of a debit card to the following circumstances: </p> <ul> <li> the debit card is an accepted debit card;</li> <li>the liability does not exceed $50;</li> <li>the issuer has given the consumer a description of a means by which the issuer may be notified of loss or theft of the card;</li> <li>the unauthorized use occurs before the issuer has been notified of that fact or that an unauthorized use may occur as the result of loss, theft, or otherwise; and</li> <li>the issuer has provided a method whereby the card user can be identified as the person authorized to use the card.</li> </ul> <p>States that an issuer has been notified when reasonable steps have been taken to give the issuer the pertinent information, whether or not any particular officer, employee, or agent of the issuer does in fact receive that information.</p> <p>Places the the burden of proof upon the issuer to show that: (1) the use was authorized, or (2) the conditions of liability for the unauthorized use of a debit card have been met.</p>

tv_txt: II 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2200 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 2, 2014 Mr. Warner (for himself and Mr. Kirk ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To provide debit card holders with consumer protections equivalent to those available to credit card holders, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Consumer Debit Card Protection Act of 2014 . 2. Amendments to Electronic Fund Transfer Act The Electronic Fund Transfer Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1693 et seq. ) is amended— (1) in section 908(c), by inserting , or in the case of an electronic debit transaction, as defined in section 920(c)(5), seven business days except as otherwise allowed by the Bureau to protect against fraud, ; and (2) in section 909— (A) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, by striking A consumer shall and inserting Except as provided in subsection (b), a consumer shall ; (B) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) as subsections (c) through (f), respectively; and (C) by inserting the following after subsection (a): (b) Unauthorized debit card transactions (1) Liability of consumer A consumer shall be liable for the unauthorized use of a debit card, only if— (A) the debit card is an accepted debit card; (B) the liability is not in excess of $50; (C) the issuer has provided the consumer with a description of a means by which the issuer may be notified of loss or theft of the card; (D) the unauthorized use occurs before the issuer has been notified that an unauthorized use of the debit card has occurred or may occur as the result of loss, theft, or otherwise; and (E) the issuer has provided a method whereby the user of such card can be identified as the person authorized to use it. (2) Notification For purposes of this subsection, an issuer has been notified when such steps as may be reasonably required in the ordinary course of business to provide the issuer with the pertinent information have been taken, whether or not any particular officer, employee, or agent of the issuer does in fact receive such information. (3) Burden of proof In any action by an issuer to enforce liability for the use of a debit card, the burden of proof is upon the issuer to show that the use was authorized or, if the use was unauthorized, then the burden of proof is upon the issuer to show that the conditions of liability for the unauthorized use of a debit card, as set forth in paragraph (1), have been met. (4) Rule of construction Nothing in this subsection imposes liability upon a consumer for the unauthorized use of a debit card in excess of his liability for such use under other applicable law or under any agreement with the issuer. (5) Definitions As used in this subsection, the terms debit card and issuer have the same meaning as in section 920(c). .