1-1 By: Romo (Senate Sponsor - Rosson) H.B. No. 2745
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 1995;
1-3 May 18, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Economic
1-4 Development; May 23, 1995, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 23, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to user safety at unmanned teller machines.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Chapter IX, The Texas Banking Code (Article
1-11 342-901 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
1-12 adding Article 3d to read as follows:
1-13 Art. 3d. UNMANNED TELLER MACHINES: USER SAFETY
1-14 Sec. 1. DEFINITIONS. In this article:
1-15 (1) "Access area" means a paved walkway or sidewalk
1-16 that is within 50 feet of an unmanned teller machine. The term
1-17 does not include a public road, street, or highway or adjacent
1-18 sidewalk open to use by the public.
1-19 (2) "Access device" has the meaning assigned by
1-20 Section 7, Article 3c, of this chapter.
1-21 (3) "Candlefoot power" means the light intensity of
1-22 candles on a horizontal plane at 36 inches above ground level and
1-23 five feet in front of the area to be measured.
1-24 (4) "Control" means to have the present, actual
1-25 authority to determine how, when, and by whom an access area or
1-26 defined parking area is to be used, maintained, lighted, and
1-27 landscaped.
1-28 (5) "Customer" means a natural person to whom an
1-29 access device is issued for personal, family, or household use.
1-30 (6) "Defined parking area" means the portion of a
1-31 parking area open for unmanned teller machine customer parking that
1-32 is contiguous to an access area, is regularly, principally, and
1-33 lawfully used during the hours of darkness for parking by customers
1-34 of the machine, and is owned or leased by the owner or operator of
1-35 the unmanned teller machine or owned or controlled by a person
1-36 leasing the machine site to the owner or operator of the machine.
1-37 The term does not include a parking area that is physically closed,
1-38 or on which conspicuous signs indicate that the area is closed, or
1-39 the levels of a multiple-level parking area other than the single
1-40 parking level considered by the operator of the unmanned teller
1-41 machine to be the most directly accessible to customers.
1-42 (7) "Financial institution" means a state or national
1-43 bank or a state or federal savings and loan association, credit
1-44 union, or savings bank.
1-45 (8) "Hours of darkness" means the period beginning 30
1-46 minutes after sunset and ending 30 minutes before sunrise.
1-47 (9) "Operator" means the person primarily responsible
1-48 for the operation of an unmanned teller machine. The term does not
1-49 include a person whose primary function is to provide for the
1-50 exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund transfer
1-51 data.
1-52 (10) "Owner" means a person having the right to
1-53 determine the financial institutions permitted to use or
1-54 participate in the use of an unmanned teller machine. The term
1-55 does not include a person whose primary function is to provide for
1-56 the exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund
1-57 transfer data.
1-58 (11) "Person" means a natural person, corporation,
1-59 firm, partnership, association, common law trust, or other entity.
1-60 (12) "Public road" means a public right-of-way. The
1-61 term includes a structure, sidewalk, facility, or appurtenance
1-62 incidental to a public road.
1-63 (13) "Unmanned teller machine" has the meaning
1-64 assigned by Section 2, Article 3a, of this chapter, except that the
1-65 term does not include a "customer convenience terminal," as
1-66 defined by Section 2, Article 3c, of this chapter.
1-67 Sec. 2. LEGISLATIVE INTENT: CONSTRUCTION. (a) It is the
1-68 intent of the legislature to establish a standard of good faith for
2-1 the evaluation of the safety of each unmanned teller machine in
2-2 this state. It is not the intent of the legislature to impose a
2-3 duty to relocate or modify an unmanned teller machine on the
2-4 occurrence of a particular event or circumstance. A violation of
2-5 this article or a rule adopted under this article does not
2-6 constitute negligence per se. Substantial compliance with this
2-7 article and all rules adopted under this article is prima facie
2-8 evidence that a person has provided adequate safety protection
2-9 measures relating to unmanned teller machines under this article.
2-10 (b) This article does not create a duty, responsibility, or
2-11 obligation for a person whose primary function is to provide for
2-12 the exchange, transfer, or dissemination of electronic fund
2-13 transfer data and who is not the owner or operator of an unmanned
2-14 teller machine. A person described by this subsection is not
2-15 liable to a customer or user of an unmanned teller machine for any
2-16 claim or cause of action arising out of or in connection with any
2-17 use or attempted use of an unmanned teller machine.
2-18 Sec. 3. SAFETY PROCEDURES. (a) The operator or owner of an
2-19 unmanned teller machine shall provide lighting during the hours of
2-20 darkness for the machine and its access area and defined parking
2-21 area. The owner or operator shall also provide lighting during the
2-22 hours of darkness for the exterior of the enclosure if the unmanned
2-23 teller machine is located in an enclosure.
2-24 (b) The owner or operator shall provide a minimum of:
2-25 (1) 10 candlefoot power at the face of the unmanned
2-26 teller machine and extending in an unobstructed direction outward
2-27 five feet;
2-28 (2) two candlefoot power within 50 feet from all
2-29 unobstructed directions from the face of the machine, unless the
2-30 machine is located within 10 feet of the corner of a building and
2-31 is generally accessible from the adjacent side, in which event the
2-32 owner or operator shall provide a minimum of two candlefoot power
2-33 along the first 40 unobstructed feet of the adjacent side of the
2-34 building; and
2-35 (3) two candlefoot power in that portion of the
2-36 defined parking area within 60 feet of the unmanned teller machine.
2-37 (c) If an access area or defined parking area for an
2-38 unmanned teller machine is not controlled by the owner or operator
2-39 of the machine, and if the person who leased the site where the
2-40 machine is located controls the access area or defined parking
2-41 area, that person shall comply with this section.
2-42 Sec. 4. SAFETY EVALUATIONS. An owner or operator of
2-43 unmanned teller machines shall evaluate the safety of each machine
2-44 owned or operated by the person and shall include in the evaluation
2-45 a consideration of:
2-46 (1) the extent to which the lighting for the machine
2-47 complies with the standards required by Section 3 of this article;
2-48 (2) the presence of landscaping, vegetation, or other
2-49 obstructions in the area of the machine and the access area and
2-50 defined parking area for the machine; and
2-51 (3) the incidence of crimes of violence in the
2-52 immediate neighborhood of the machine as reflected in the records
2-53 of local law enforcement and of which the owner or operator has
2-54 actual knowledge.
2-55 Sec. 5. NOTICE. An issuer of access devices shall furnish
2-56 the issuer's customers with a notice of basic safety precautions
2-57 that each customer should employ while using an unmanned teller
2-58 machine. The issuer shall deliver personally or mail the
2-59 information to each customer whose mailing address is in this state
2-60 according to records for the account to which the access device
2-61 relates. If an issuer furnishes access devices to more than one
2-62 customer on the same account, the issuer is required to furnish a
2-63 notice to only one customer named on the account to satisfy this
2-64 section. The issuer may furnish information under this section
2-65 with other disclosures related to the access device, such as an
2-66 initial or periodic disclosure statement furnished pursuant to the
2-67 federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1693 et
2-68 seq.).
2-69 Sec. 6. LIMITATION. This article does not apply to an
2-70 unmanned teller machine located:
3-1 (1) inside a building:
3-2 (A) unless the building is a freestanding
3-3 installation existing solely to provide an enclosure for the
3-4 unmanned teller machine; or
3-5 (B) except to the extent a transaction can be
3-6 conducted from outside the building; or
3-7 (2) in any area not controlled by the owner or
3-8 operator of the unmanned teller machine.
3-9 Sec. 7. ENFORCEMENT: RULES. (a) The Finance Commission
3-10 and the Credit Union Commission shall enforce this article and
3-11 adopt rules to implement this article.
3-12 (b) The rules must establish security requirements to be
3-13 implemented by banks for the operation of unmanned teller machines.
3-14 The rules may require the banks to install and maintain security
3-15 devices in addition to those required by this article to be
3-16 operated in conjunction with the machines for the protection of
3-17 customers using the machines, including:
3-18 (1) video surveillance equipment that is maintained in
3-19 working order and operated continuously during the hours of
3-20 operation of a machine; and
3-21 (2) adequate lighting around the premises that
3-22 contains a machine.
3-23 (c) Failure by a bank to comply with the rules adopted under
3-24 this section constitutes grounds for the imposition of a civil
3-25 penalty under Section 7, Article 3a, of this chapter.
3-26 SECTION 2. (a) An issuer of access devices to unmanned
3-27 teller machines shall provide notice to customers as required by
3-28 Section 5, Article 3d, Chapter 9, The Texas Banking Code (Article
3-29 342-903d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, not
3-30 later than January 1, 1996.
3-31 (b) An owner or operator of an unmanned teller machine or a
3-32 person described by Section 3(c), Article 3d, Chapter IX, The Texas
3-33 Banking Code (Article 342-903d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as
3-34 added by this Act, shall comply with safety requirements imposed by
3-35 that article not later than September 1, 1996.
3-36 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-37 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-38 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-39 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-40 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-41 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-42 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-43 * * * * *