By Romo H.B. No. 2745
74R6552 GWK-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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" has the meaning assigned
2-13 by Section 2, Article 3c, of this chapter.
2-14 (8) "Hours of darkness" means the period beginning 30
2-15 minutes after sunset and ending 30 minutes before sunrise.
2-16 (9) "Operator" means the person primarily responsible
2-17 for the operation of an unmanned teller machine. The term does not
2-18 include a person whose primary function is to provide for the
2-19 exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund transfer
2-20 data.
2-21 (10) "Owner" means a person having the right to
2-22 determine the financial institutions permitted to use or
2-23 participate in the use of an unmanned teller machine. The term
2-24 does not include a person whose primary function is to provide for
2-25 the exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund
2-26 transfer data.
2-27 (11) "Person" means a natural person, corporation,
3-1 firm, partnership, association, common law trust, or other entity.
3-2 (12) "Public road" means a public right-of-way. The
3-3 term includes a structure, sidewalk, facility, or appurtenance
3-4 incidental to a public road.
3-5 (13) "Unmanned teller machine" has the meaning
3-6 assigned by Section 2, Article 3a, of this chapter, except that the
3-7 term does not include a "customer convenience terminal," as
3-8 defined by Section 2, Article 3c, of this chapter.
3-9 Sec. 2. LEGISLATIVE INTENT: CONSTRUCTION. (a) It is the
3-10 intent of the legislature to establish a standard of good faith for
3-11 the evaluation of the safety of each unmanned teller machine in
3-12 this state. It is not the intent of the legislature to impose a
3-13 duty to relocate or modify an unmanned teller machine on the
3-14 occurrence of a particular event or circumstance. A violation of
3-15 this article or a rule adopted under this article does not
3-16 constitute negligence per se.
3-17 (b) This article does not create a duty, responsibility, or
3-18 obligation for a person whose primary function is to provide for
3-19 the exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund
3-20 transfer data and who is not the owner or operator of an unmanned
3-21 teller machine. A person described by this subsection is not
3-22 liable to a customer or user of an unmanned teller machine for any
3-23 claim or cause of action arising out of or in connection with any
3-24 use or attempted use of an unmanned teller machine.
3-25 Sec. 3. SAFETY PROCEDURES. (a) The operator or owner of an
3-26 unmanned teller machine shall provide lighting during the hours of
3-27 darkness for the machine and its access area and defined parking
4-1 area. The owner or operator shall also provide lighting during the
4-2 hours of darkness for the exterior of the enclosure if the unmanned
4-3 teller machine is located in an enclosure.
4-4 (b) The owner or operator shall provide a minimum of:
4-5 (1) 10 candlefoot power at the face of the unmanned
4-6 teller machine and extending in an unobstructed direction outward
4-7 five feet;
4-8 (2) two candlefoot power within 50 feet from all
4-9 unobstructed directions from the face of the machine, unless the
4-10 machine is located within 10 feet of the corner of a building and
4-11 is generally accessible from the adjacent side, in which event the
4-12 owner or operator shall provide a minimum of two candlefoot power
4-13 along the first 40 unobstructed feet of the adjacent side of the
4-14 building; and
4-15 (3) two candlefoot power in that portion of the
4-16 defined parking area within 60 feet of the unmanned teller machine.
4-17 (c) If an access area or defined parking area for an
4-18 unmanned teller machine is not controlled by the operator of the
4-19 machine, and if the person who leased the site where the machine is
4-20 located controls the access area or defined parking area, that
4-21 person shall comply with this section.
4-22 Sec. 4. SAFETY EVALUATIONS. An owner or operator of
4-23 unmanned teller machines shall evaluate the safety of each machine
4-24 owned or operated by the person and shall include in the evaluation
4-25 a consideration of:
4-26 (1) the extent to which the lighting for the machine
4-27 complies with the standards required by Section 3 of this article;
5-1 (2) the presence of landscaping, vegetation, or other
5-2 obstructions in the area of the machine and the access area and
5-3 defined parking area for the machine; and
5-4 (3) the incidence of crimes of violence in the
5-5 immediate neighborhood of the machine as reflected in the records
5-6 of local law enforcement and of which the owner or operator has
5-7 actual knowledge.
5-8 Sec. 5. NOTICE. An issuer of access devices shall furnish
5-9 the issuer's customers with a notice of basic safety precautions
5-10 that each customer should employ while using an unmanned teller
5-11 machine. The issuer shall deliver personally or mail the
5-12 information to each customer whose mailing address is in this state
5-13 according to records for the account to which the access device
5-14 relates. If an issuer furnishes access devices to more than one
5-15 customer on the same account, the issuer is required to furnish a
5-16 notice to only one customer named on the account to satisfy this
5-17 section. The issuer may furnish information under this section
5-18 with other disclosures related to the access device, such as an
5-19 initial or periodic disclosure statement furnished pursuant to the
5-20 federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1693 et
5-21 seq.).
5-22 Sec. 6. LIMITATION. This article does not apply to an
5-23 unmanned teller machine located:
5-24 (1) inside a building:
5-25 (A) unless the building is a freestanding
5-26 installation existing solely to provide an enclosure for the
5-27 unmanned teller machine; or
6-1 (B) except to the extent a transaction can be
6-2 conducted from outside the building; or
6-3 (2) in any area not controlled by the owner or
6-4 operator of the unmanned teller machine.
6-5 Sec. 7. ENFORCEMENT: RULES. The State Banking Board shall
6-6 enforce this article and adopt rules to implement this article.
6-7 SECTION 2. (a) The State Banking Board shall adopt rules as
6-8 required by Section 7, Article 3d, Chapter IX, The Texas Banking
6-9 Code (Article 342-903d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by
6-10 this Act, not later than January 1, 1996.
6-11 (b) An issuer of access devices to unmanned teller machines
6-12 shall provide notice to customers as required by Section 5, Article
6-13 3d, Chapter 9, The Texas Banking Code (Article 342-903d, Vernon's
6-14 Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, not later than January
6-15 1, 1996.
6-16 (c) An owner or operator of an unmanned teller machine shall
6-17 comply with safety requirements imposed by Article 3d, Chapter IX,
6-18 The Texas Banking Code (Article 342-903d, Vernon's Texas Civil
6-19 Statutes), as added by this Act, not later than September 1, 1996.
6-20 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-26 passage, and it is so enacted.