Senate Bill No. 225

(By Senator Hunter)
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[Introduced January 16, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article four, chapter thirty-one-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section forty-six, relating to limiting the liability of a West Virginia merchant for credit card fraud over the internet; limiting rates charged; and requiring credit card companies to report annually to the attorney general on prosecutions of credit card fraud cases against businesses in this state.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article four, chapter thirty-one-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section forty-six, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. BANKING INSTITUTIONS AND SERVICES GENERALLY.

§31A-4-46. Limiting charges to state merchants for fraudulent credit card transactions over the internet; requiring annual reports to attorney general.

(a) A banking institution, that issues credit cards that are fraudulently presented to any person or entity licensed to do business in West Virginia and engaged in any business activity over the internet, may not charge the West Virginia merchant more than two hundred fifty dollars for each fraudulent internet transaction, unless the banking institution issuing the credit card cooperates in investigation of the fraudulent credit card transaction and prosecutes criminal charges against the person or persons involved in the credit card fraud.
(b) A banking institution that issues credit cards that are presented to a person or other entity licensed to do business in West Virginia may not charge

rates for businesses engaged in credit card sales by internet service charges that are more than one tenth of a percent greater than similar charges to merchants who are engaged in credit card sales by internet in other states.
(c) A banking institution, that issues credit cards that are presented to any person or entity licensed to do business in West Virginia and engaged in any business activity over the internet, and an internet transaction results in a fraudulent use of the credit card, must provide the attorney general of West Virginia with an annual report of credit card fraud cases involving state businesses and internet sales.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to protect West Virginia merchants from unreasonable charges by banking institutions that issue credit cards, when the banking institutions do not cooperate in the investigation and prosecution of credit card frauds on sales over the internet.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.