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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).
.