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HOUSE BILL 476
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Anita Gonzales and Cristina Parajón and Art De La Cruz
AN ACT
RELATING TO TRADE PRACTICES; ENACTING THE PRICE FIXING
PROHIBITION, CONSUMER TRANSPARENCY AND TAX FAIRNESS ACT;
PROHIBITING NETWORK INTERCHANGE PRICE FIXING; PROHIBITING
INTERCHANGE FEES ON TAXES AND GRATUITIES; CREATING PENALTIES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of Chapter 57 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the
"Price Fixing Prohibition, Consumer Transparency and Tax
Fairness Act"."
SECTION 2. A new section of Chapter 57 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Price Fixing
Prohibition, Consumer Transparency and Tax Fairness Act:
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A. "acquirer bank" means a member of a payment card
network that contracts with a merchant for the settlement of
electronic payment transactions. An acquirer bank may contract
directly with merchants or indirectly through a processor to
process electronic payment transactions;
B. "authorization" means the process through which
a merchant requests approval for an electronic payment
transaction from the issuer;
C. "clearance" means the process of transmitting
final transaction data from a merchant to an issuer for posting
to a cardholder's account and the calculation of fees and
charges, including interchange fees, that apply to the issuer
and the merchant;
D. "consumer" means a person who has been issued a
credit card or debit card or who purchases goods or services
using an electronic payment transaction or another method of
payment;
E. "covered credit card issuer" means a credit card
issuer that, together with any affiliates, had consolidated
worldwide banking and nonbanking assets, including assets of
affiliates, other than trust assets under management, of more
than eighty-five billion dollars ($85,000,000,000) at any point
during the previous calendar year;
F. "credit card" means a card, plate, coupon book
or other credit device existing for the purpose of obtaining
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money, property, labor or services on credit;
G. "debit card" means a card or other payment code
or device issued or approved for use through a payment card
network to debit an asset account, regardless of the purpose
for which the account is established, whether authorization is
based on a signature, a personal identification number or other
means. "Debit card" includes general-use prepaid cards, but
does not include paper checks;
H. "electronic payment transaction" means a
transaction in which a person uses a debit card, a credit card
or other payment code or device issued or approved through a
payment card network to debit a deposit account or use a line
of credit, whether authorization is based on a signature, a
personal identification number or other means;
I. "fee schedule" means a schedule, list, table,
chart or similar document or agreement, whether publicly
disclosed or not, that sets forth or fixes the amount or the
formula for determining the amount of one or more fee rates;
J. "gratuity" means a voluntary monetary
contribution to an employee from a guest, patron or customer in
connection with services rendered;
K. "interchange fee" means a fee established,
charged or received by a payment card network for the purpose
of compensating an issuer for the issuer's involvement in an
electronic payment transaction;
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L. "issuer" means a person that issues a debit card
or credit card or the issuer's agent;
M. "merchant" means a person that accepts
electronic payment transactions and collects and remits a tax;
N. "payment card network" means an entity that:
(1) directly or through licensed members,
processors or agents provides the proprietary services,
infrastructure and software to route information and data
for the purpose of conducting electronic payment transaction
authorization, clearance and settlement; and
(2) a merchant uses to accept as a form of
payment a brand of debit card, credit card or other device that
may be used to carry out electronic payment transactions;
O. "processor" means an entity that facilitates,
services, processes or manages the debit or credit
authorization, billing, transfer, payment procedures or
settlement with respect to an electronic payment transaction;
P. "settlement" means the process of transmitting
sales information to an issuing bank for collection and
reimbursement of funds to a merchant and calculating and
reporting the net transaction amount to the issuer and the
merchant for an electronic payment transaction that is cleared;
Q. "tax" means the gross receipts tax and a local
option gross receipts tax imposed by a municipality or county;
and
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R. "tax documentation" means documentation
sufficient for a payment card network to determine the total
amount of an electronic payment transaction and the tax or
gratuity amount of the transaction. Tax documentation may be
related to a single electronic payment transaction or multiple
electronic payment transactions aggregated over a period of
time. Tax documentation may include invoices, receipts,
journals, ledgers and tax returns filed with the taxation and
revenue department or local taxing authorities."
SECTION 3. A new section of Chapter 57 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] PROHIBITION ON NETWORK INTERCHANGE PRICE
FIXING--OTHER UNFAIR CREDIT CARD PRACTICES.--
A. It is unlawful for a payment card network to
directly, or indirectly through an agent, a processor, a
contract, a requirement, a condition, a penalty, a
technological specification, an inducement or otherwise:
(1) fix or conspire to fix an interchange fee
with, or on behalf of, another covered credit card issuer or
payment card network;
(2) require a person to accept as payment a
credit card issued by a covered credit card issuer if the
person accepts as payment other credit cards that are enabled
for processing over the payment card network;
(3) charge a consumer or a merchant a fee or
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assessment due to a disputed credit card transaction unless a
finding of fact concludes that the consumer or merchant is
responsible for the disputed transaction and the consumer or
merchant is provided written notification of the finding of
fact; or
(4) impose a penalty on a merchant based upon
the way the merchant lawfully sets prices for goods or
services.
B. It is unlawful for a covered credit card issuer
to directly, or indirectly through an agent, processor,
contract, requirement, condition, penalty, inducement,
technological specification or otherwise:
(1) fix or conspire to fix an interchange fee
with or on behalf of another covered credit card issuer or
payment card network;
(2) receive or charge an interchange fee for a
credit card transaction in an amount that is included on or
determined by a fee schedule that:
(a) has been fixed, established or put
forward by a payment card network; or
(b) the covered credit card issuer knows
or reasonably should know is being used in the same calendar
year by another covered card issuer to determine the amount of
an interchange fee with respect to a credit card transaction
that the other covered credit card issuer receives or charges;
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(3) on or after one hundred eighty days after
the effective date of the Price Fixing Prohibition, Consumer
Transparency and Tax Fairness Act, issue a monthly statement to
a consumer who has been issued a credit card by the covered
credit card issuer without disclosing in a clear and
conspicuous manner for each credit card transaction listed in
the monthly statement:
(a) whether interchange fees were
charged on the credit card transaction; and
(b) the amount charged for each
interchange fee charged on each credit card transaction;
(4) charge a consumer or a merchant a fee or
assessment due to a disputed credit card transaction unless a
finding of fact concludes that the consumer or merchant is
responsible for the disputed transaction and the consumer or
merchant is provided written notification of the finding of
fact; or
(5) prohibit or penalize a merchant based upon
the way the merchant lawfully sets prices for goods or
services."
SECTION 4. A new section of Chapter 57 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] INTERCHANGE FEES ON TAXES AND GRATUITIES
PROHIBITED.--
A. An issuer, payment card network, acquirer bank
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or processor shall not receive or charge a merchant an
interchange fee on the tax amount or gratuity of an electronic
payment transaction if the merchant informs the acquirer bank
or its designee of the tax or gratuity amount as part of the
authorization or settlement process for the electronic payment
transaction. A merchant shall transmit the tax or gratuity
amount data as part of the authorization or settlement process
to avoid being charged interchange fees on the tax or gratuity
amount of an electronic payment transaction.
B. A merchant that does not transmit the tax or
gratuity amount data in accordance with this section may submit
documentation for the electronic payment transaction to the
acquirer bank or its designee no later than one hundred eighty
days after the date of the electronic payment transaction and,
within thirty days after the merchant submits the necessary
documentation, the issuer shall credit to the merchant the
amount of interchange fees charged on the tax or gratuity
amount of the electronic payment transaction.
C. Nothing in this section creates liability for a
payment card network regarding the accuracy of the tax or
gratuity data reported by the merchant.
D. It is unlawful for an issuer, payment card
network, acquirer bank or processor to alter or manipulate the
computation and imposition of interchange fees by increasing
the rate or amount of the fees applicable to or imposed on the
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portion of a credit or debit card transaction not attributable
to taxes or gratuities in order to circumvent the effect of
this section."
SECTION 5. A new section of Chapter 57 NMSA 1978 is
enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] PENALTIES.--
A. The attorney general may file suit to seek
injunctive relief and, if appropriate, collect a civil penalty
from a covered credit card issuer or payment card network that
the attorney general believes has violated any of the
prohibitions in Sections 3 and 4 of the Price Fixing
Prohibition, Consumer Transparency and Tax Fairness Act.
B. An issuer, payment card network, acquirer bank,
processor or other designated entity that has received tax or
gratuity amount data from a merchant and violates Section 4 of
the Price Fixing Prohibition, Consumer Transparency and Tax
Fairness Act is subject to a civil penalty of one thousand
dollars ($1,000) per electronic payment transaction conducted
in violation of the Price Fixing Prohibition, Consumer
Transparency and Tax Fairness Act, and the issuer shall refund
to the merchant the interchange fee calculated on the tax or
gratuity amount relative to the electronic payment transaction.
C. A person, other than a merchant, involved in
facilitating or processing an electronic payment transaction,
including an issuer, payment card network, an acquirer bank,
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processor or other designated entity, shall not distribute,
exchange, transfer, disseminate or use the electronic payment
transaction data except to facilitate or process the electronic
payment transaction; to monitor for, detect or prevent fraud;
to support loyalty, rewards or promotional offerings; to tailor
products and services to serve customer needs; or as required
by law. A violation of this subsection constitutes a violation
of the Unfair Practices Act."
SECTION 6. SEVERABILITY.--If a part or application of the
Price Fixing Prohibition, Consumer Transparency and Tax
Fairness Act is held invalid, the remainder or its application
to other situations or persons shall not be affected.
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