Bill > HB171

This bill establishes new regulations for interchange fees related to tax and gratuity charges in electronic payment transactions in Alaska. The legislation prohibits payment card networks, banks, and processors from charging merchants interchange fees on the tax or gratuity portion of a transaction when the merchant provides appropriate documentation during the transaction's authorization or settlement process. If merchants do not initially transmit the documentation, they have 180 days to submit it, after which the issuer must credit back the interchange fees charged on tax and gratuity amounts within 30 days. The bill includes strict provisions preventing financial institutions from increasing interchange fees on other transaction portions to compensate for lost tax and gratuity fee revenue. Entities violating these rules can face civil penalties of $1,000 per electronic payment transaction and are restricted in how they can use transaction data, limiting usage to transaction processing or legally required purposes. The bill also provides detailed definitions for terms like "electronic payment transaction," "interchange fee," and "payment card network" to ensure clear implementation. Additionally, the bill amends the Alaska Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act to include violations of these new interchange fee regulations as a prohibited practice.

Business and Industry

https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/34?Root=HB171