H.B. No. 2745
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to user safety at unmanned teller machines.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Chapter IX, The Texas Banking Code (Article
1-5 342-901 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
1-6 adding Article 3d to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 3d. UNMANNED TELLER MACHINES: USER SAFETY
1-8 Sec. 1. DEFINITIONS. In this article:
1-9 (1) "Access area" means a paved walkway or sidewalk
1-10 that is within 50 feet of an unmanned teller machine. The term
1-11 does not include a public road, street, or highway or adjacent
1-12 sidewalk open to use by the public.
1-13 (2) "Access device" has the meaning assigned by
1-14 Section 7, Article 3c, of this chapter.
1-15 (3) "Candlefoot power" means the light intensity of
1-16 candles on a horizontal plane at 36 inches above ground level and
1-17 five feet in front of the area to be measured.
1-18 (4) "Control" means to have the present, actual
1-19 authority to determine how, when, and by whom an access area or
1-20 defined parking area is to be used, maintained, lighted, and
1-21 landscaped.
1-22 (5) "Customer" means a natural person to whom an
1-23 access device is issued for personal, family, or household use.
1-24 (6) "Defined parking area" means the portion of a
2-1 parking area open for unmanned teller machine customer parking that
2-2 is contiguous to an access area, is regularly, principally, and
2-3 lawfully used during the hours of darkness for parking by customers
2-4 of the machine, and is owned or leased by the owner or operator of
2-5 the unmanned teller machine or owned or controlled by a person
2-6 leasing the machine site to the owner or operator of the machine.
2-7 The term does not include a parking area that is physically closed,
2-8 or on which conspicuous signs indicate that the area is closed, or
2-9 the levels of a multiple-level parking area other than the single
2-10 parking level considered by the operator of the unmanned teller
2-11 machine to be the most directly accessible to customers.
2-12 (7) "Financial institution" means a state or national
2-13 bank or a state or federal savings and loan association, credit
2-14 union, or savings bank.
2-15 (8) "Hours of darkness" means the period beginning 30
2-16 minutes after sunset and ending 30 minutes before sunrise.
2-17 (9) "Operator" means the person primarily responsible
2-18 for the operation of an unmanned teller machine. The term does not
2-19 include a person whose primary function is to provide for the
2-20 exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund transfer
2-21 data.
2-22 (10) "Owner" means a person having the right to
2-23 determine the financial institutions permitted to use or
2-24 participate in the use of an unmanned teller machine. The term
2-25 does not include a person whose primary function is to provide for
2-26 the exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund
2-27 transfer data.
3-1 (11) "Person" means a natural person, corporation,
3-2 firm, partnership, association, common law trust, or other entity.
3-3 (12) "Public road" means a public right-of-way. The
3-4 term includes a structure, sidewalk, facility, or appurtenance
3-5 incidental to a public road.
3-6 (13) "Unmanned teller machine" has the meaning
3-7 assigned by Section 2, Article 3a, of this chapter, except that the
3-8 term does not include a "customer convenience terminal," as
3-9 defined by Section 2, Article 3c, of this chapter.
3-10 Sec. 2. LEGISLATIVE INTENT: CONSTRUCTION. (a) It is the
3-11 intent of the legislature to establish a standard of good faith for
3-12 the evaluation of the safety of each unmanned teller machine in
3-13 this state. It is not the intent of the legislature to impose a
3-14 duty to relocate or modify an unmanned teller machine on the
3-15 occurrence of a particular event or circumstance. A violation of
3-16 this article or a rule adopted under this article does not
3-17 constitute negligence per se. Substantial compliance with this
3-18 article and all rules adopted under this article is prima facie
3-19 evidence that a person has provided adequate safety protection
3-20 measures relating to unmanned teller machines under this article.
3-21 (b) This article does not create a duty, responsibility, or
3-22 obligation for a person whose primary function is to provide for
3-23 the exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund
3-24 transfer data and who is not the owner or operator of an unmanned
3-25 teller machine. A person described by this subsection is not
3-26 liable to a customer or user of an unmanned teller machine for any
3-27 claim or cause of action arising out of or in connection with any
4-1 use or attempted use of an unmanned teller machine.
4-2 Sec. 3. SAFETY PROCEDURES. (a) The operator or owner of an
4-3 unmanned teller machine shall provide lighting during the hours of
4-4 darkness for the machine and its access area and defined parking
4-5 area. The owner or operator shall also provide lighting during the
4-6 hours of darkness for the exterior of the enclosure if the unmanned
4-7 teller machine is located in an enclosure.
4-8 (b) The owner or operator shall provide a minimum of:
4-9 (1) 10 candlefoot power at the face of the unmanned
4-10 teller machine and extending in an unobstructed direction outward
4-11 five feet;
4-12 (2) two candlefoot power within 50 feet from all
4-13 unobstructed directions from the face of the machine, unless the
4-14 machine is located within 10 feet of the corner of a building and
4-15 is generally accessible from the adjacent side, in which event the
4-16 owner or operator shall provide a minimum of two candlefoot power
4-17 along the first 40 unobstructed feet of the adjacent side of the
4-18 building; and
4-19 (3) two candlefoot power in that portion of the
4-20 defined parking area within 60 feet of the unmanned teller machine.
4-21 (c) If an access area or defined parking area for an
4-22 unmanned teller machine is not controlled by the owner or operator
4-23 of the machine, and if the person who leased the site where the
4-24 machine is located controls the access area or defined parking
4-25 area, that person shall comply with this section.
4-26 Sec. 4. SAFETY EVALUATIONS. An owner or operator of
4-27 unmanned teller machines shall evaluate the safety of each machine
5-1 owned or operated by the person and shall include in the evaluation
5-2 a consideration of:
5-3 (1) the extent to which the lighting for the machine
5-4 complies with the standards required by Section 3 of this article;
5-5 (2) the presence of landscaping, vegetation, or other
5-6 obstructions in the area of the machine and the access area and
5-7 defined parking area for the machine; and
5-8 (3) the incidence of crimes of violence in the
5-9 immediate neighborhood of the machine as reflected in the records
5-10 of local law enforcement and of which the owner or operator has
5-11 actual knowledge.
5-12 Sec. 5. NOTICE. An issuer of access devices shall furnish
5-13 the issuer's customers with a notice of basic safety precautions
5-14 that each customer should employ while using an unmanned teller
5-15 machine. The issuer shall deliver personally or mail the
5-16 information to each customer whose mailing address is in this state
5-17 according to records for the account to which the access device
5-18 relates. If an issuer furnishes access devices to more than one
5-19 customer on the same account, the issuer is required to furnish a
5-20 notice to only one customer named on the account to satisfy this
5-21 section. The issuer may furnish information under this section
5-22 with other disclosures related to the access device, such as an
5-23 initial or periodic disclosure statement furnished pursuant to the
5-24 federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1693 et
5-25 seq.).
5-26 Sec. 6. LIMITATION. This article does not apply to an
5-27 unmanned teller machine located:
6-1 (1) inside a building:
6-2 (A) unless the building is a freestanding
6-3 installation existing solely to provide an enclosure for the
6-4 unmanned teller machine; or
6-5 (B) except to the extent a transaction can be
6-6 conducted from outside the building; or
6-7 (2) in any area not controlled by the owner or
6-8 operator of the unmanned teller machine.
6-9 Sec. 7. ENFORCEMENT: RULES. (a) The Finance Commission
6-10 and the Credit Union Commission shall enforce this article and
6-11 adopt rules to implement this article.
6-12 (b) The rules must establish security requirements to be
6-13 implemented by banks for the operation of unmanned teller machines.
6-14 The rules may require the banks to install and maintain security
6-15 devices in addition to those required by this article to be
6-16 operated in conjunction with the machines for the protection of
6-17 customers using the machines, including:
6-18 (1) video surveillance equipment that is maintained in
6-19 working order and operated continuously during the hours of
6-20 operation of a machine; and
6-21 (2) adequate lighting around the premises that
6-22 contains a machine.
6-23 (c) Failure by a bank to comply with the rules adopted under
6-24 this section constitutes grounds for the imposition of a civil
6-25 penalty under Section 7, Article 3a, of this chapter.
6-26 SECTION 2. (a) An issuer of access devices to unmanned
6-27 teller machines shall provide notice to customers as required by
7-1 Section 5, Article 3d, Chapter 9, The Texas Banking Code (Article
7-2 342-903d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, not
7-3 later than January 1, 1996.
7-4 (b) An owner or operator of an unmanned teller machine or a
7-5 person described by Section 3(c), Article 3d, Chapter IX, The Texas
7-6 Banking Code (Article 342-903d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as
7-7 added by this Act, shall comply with safety requirements imposed by
7-8 that article not later than September 1, 1996.
7-9 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
7-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-14 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-15 passage, and it is so enacted.