Bill H.2194

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1409 FILED ON: 1/13/2009

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2194

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act establishing uniform safeguards and public protections for consumers conducting bank transactions at automated teller machines..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 1 of Chapter 167B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “agreement” in the following new paragraph:—“Adequate lighting” with respect to an open and operating teller machine facility located on an exterior wall of a building open to the outdoor air, and any defined parking areas means lighting during nighttime hours according to the following standards:

a minimum of 10 candlefoot power at the face of the automated teller machine and extending in an unobstructed direction outward 5 feet;

(ii) a minimum of 2 candlefoot power within 50 feet from all unobstructed directions from the face of the automated teller machine. If such machine is located within 10 feet of the corner of the building and the automated teller facility is generally accessible from the adjacent side, there shall be a minimum of 2 candlefoot power along the first 40 unobstructed feet of the adjacent side of the building.

With respect to defined parking areas, “adequate lighting” means a minimum of 2 candlefoot power in that portion of the parking area within 60 feet of the automated teller machine facility

With respect to an automated teller machine facility located within the interior of a building, “adequate lighting” means lighting, on a 24 hour basis, which permits a person entering the facility to readily and easily see all persons occupying such facility, and which permits a person inside the facility to readily and easily see all persons at the entry door of such facility.“Automated teller machine facility” means the area comprised of 1 or more automated teller machines, and any adjacent space which is made available to banking customers after regular banking hours.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of Chapter 167B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “functions”, in line 24, the following words:—“Candlefoot power” means the light intensity of candles on a horizontal plane at 36 inches above the ground level and 5 feet in front of the area to be measured.

SECTION 3. Section 1 of Chapter 167B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “function” in line 34 the following paragraph:—

“Defined parking area” means that portion of any parking area open for bank customer parking which is (i) contiguous to any paved walkway or sidewalk within 50 feet of an automated teller machine facility; (ii) regularly, principally and lawfully used for parking by consumers accessing the automated teller machine facility during nighttime hours; and (iii) owned or leased by the operator of the automated teller machine facility, or owned orotherwise controlled by the party leasing the automated teller site to the operator. The term does not include any parking area which is not open, not regularly used or not designated for parking by the users of the automated teller machine who are conducting automated transactions during nighttime hours. A parking area is not open if it is physically closed to access or if conspicuous signs indicate it is closed or if such area falls outside the boundaries of the designated parking area for such automated teller machine as indicated by an appropriate amount of signage indicating the proper parking area.

SECTION 4. Section 1 of Chapter 167B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “services”, in line 109, the following words:— “Nighttime hours” means the period of time beginning at sunset and ending at sunrise.

SECTION 5. Section 1 of Chapter 167B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “intervals” in line 139 the following:—n “Regular banking hours” means the period of time during each weekday, Monday through Friday, commencing at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 5:00 p.m.

SECTION 6. Chapter 167B is hereby further amended by inserting at the end thereof the following new sections:—

Section 25. (I) Security Measures — A bank shall maintain the following security measures with respect to each of its automated teller machine facilities:

(a) A surveillance camera or cameras, which shall view and record all persons entering, exiting, and moving within or about an automated teller machine facility located within the interior of a building, or which shall view and record all activity within a minimum 3 feet in front of an automated teller machine located on an exterior wall of a building open to the outdoor air. Such camera or cameras need not view and record banking transactions made at the automated teller machine. The recordings made by such cameras shall be preserved by the bank for at least 30days;(b) Within 6 months after the submission of the report of the temporary task force required by the subdivision of this section, entry doors equipped with locking devices which permit entry to such facility only to persons using an automated teller machine card or access code issued by a bank for that purpose. Provided, however, that any automated teller machine facility located within the interior of a building that is not equipped with such entry locking devices within 6 months after the submission of such report shall thereafter have at least one security guard stationed therein during the period of time after regular banking that such automated teller machine facility is available to banking customers;

(d) adequate lighting

(e) at least 1 exterior wall made substantially of untinted glass or other untinted transparent material which provides an unobstructed view of the automated teller machine or machines within the automated teller machine facility;

(f) reflective mirrors or surfaces at each automated teller machine which provide the user a rear view;

(g) a reflective mirror or mirrors placed in a manner that permits a person present in the automated teller machine facility to view areas within such facility which are otherwise concealed from plain view;

(h) a clearly visible sign which at minimum, states:

(1) the activity within the automated teller machine facility is being recorded by surveillance camera;

(2) customers should close the entry door completely upon entering if the automated teller machine facility is located within the interior of a building;

(3) customers should not permit entrance to any unknown person at any time after regular banking hours if an automated teller machine facility located within the interior of a building is available to banking customers;(4) customers should place withdrawn cash securely upon their person before exiting the automated teller machine facility;

(5) complaints regarding security in the automated teller machine facility should be directed to the bank’s security department or to the director of the office of the commissioner of banks, together with the contact address and telephone number for said parties;

(6) Where the nearest emergency assistance agency is located that is responsible for addressing criminal activity or medical emergencies;

(i) the bank should create a 20 foot radius where no vehicles are allowed to park or stand, enforced jointly by the bank and the local police authority with jurisdiction;

(j) All banks operating in the Commonwealth which provide outside and enclosed automated teller machines shall provide a telephone which provides a direct, emergency 911 call to the police department with jurisdiction at that location. The commissioner of banks shall coordinate the installation of emergency telephones with each bank in a timely basis not exceeding 1 year from the effective date of this act, unless granted a waiver for additional time to comply by said commissioner

Paragraphs (b), (c), (e) and (g) of this subdivision shall not apply to any automated teller machine facility located on an exterior wall of a building open to the outdoor air.

(II) Special commission. There is hereby established a special commission to study the technological feasibility of the limited access entry door requirements of paragraph (b) of subdivision I of this section. Such task force shall be comprised of 15 members, 2 of whom shall be representatives of federally-chartered banks, 2 of whom shall be representatives of state-chartered banks, 2 of whom shall be representatives of savings and loan associations and 2 of whom shall be representatives of Massachusetts-based credit union associations. The Governor shall appoint 7 members, 1 of whom shall be named the chairman of the task force with the approval of the Senate President and House Speaker. Not later than 12 months after the appointment of the last member of the special commission, the task force shall submit a report containing its conclusions to the Governor and the joint committee on banks and banking.

(III) Any bank which operates an automated teller machine facility shall file a list of such facilities with the executive office of public safety and the division of banks, including the street addresses, intersecting streets, hours of operation, method of security, method of surveillance at each facility and the telephone number of the bank’s security department. The executive office of public safety shall distribute this list to each local police department.

(IV) Violations and penalties.

(a) A bank found to be in violation of any provision of subdivision I of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than two hundred fifty dollars. Each violation of any provision of subdivision I of this section with respect to a particular automated teller machine facility shall be considered a separate violation thereof.

(b) Any bank found to be in violation of any provision of subdivision I of this section shall correct the violation within 3 days after such finding or shall thereafter be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $500 or more than $1000 dollars and an additional civil penalty of $250 per day for such period that said violation remains uncorrected.

(c) Any bank found to be in violation of subdivision (VI) of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than $1000 for each automated teller machine facility for which a report has not been filed. Any bank which makes a material false statement or material omission in any report filed pursuant to subdivision III of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than $5000 for each report.

(d) A proceeding to recover any civil penalty authorized to be imposed pursuant to this section shall be commenced by the service of a notice of violation which shall be returnable to the commissioner of banks. Such commissioner after due notice and an opportunity for a hearing, shall be authorized to impose the civil penalties prescribed by this section.

(V) Consumer safety information. Upon the original issuance or reissuance of an automated teller machine facility access card or code, or any other means or device permitting access to an automated teller facility, the issuing bank shall provide its customer with written information concerning safety precautions to be employed while using an automated teller machine facility. Such written information shall include at a minimum the information described in subparagraphs (i) through (v) of paragraph (h) of subdivision I of this section. In addition, until such time as all facilities are required to comply with security measures contained in this section, and for 1 year thereafter, such written information shall also include a statement indicating that entrance to an automated teller machine facility located within the interior of a building may be obtained by persons who are not authorized to use the automated teller machine facility.

(VI) Certification of compliance. Within 30 days after the effective date of this section, and each year thereafter every bank which has an automated teller machine facility which is in operation on such date shall submit a written report to the commissioner of banks certifying that such automated teller machine facility is in compliance with the provisions of this section, or if such facility is not in compliance with the provisions of this section, such report shall state the manner in which such facility fails to meet the requirements of this section and the reasons for such non-compliance.

(VII) Enforcement measures.

(a) The division of banks shall be authorized to enforce this section.

(b) Statistics of crimes associated with the use of automated teller machines compiled and maintained by the executive office of public safety shall be made available to all banks and the public.

(VIII) Exemptions. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any unenclosed automated teller machine located in any building, structure or space whose primary purpose or function is unrelated to banking activities, including but not limited to supermarkets, office buildings, airports and school buildings, provided that such automated teller machine shall be available for use only during the regular hours of operation of the building, structure or space in which such machine is located.