STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits credit card foreign transaction fees.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning foreign transaction fees and supplementing P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Credit card" means a card, plate or other single credit device that may be used from time to time to obtain credit.
"Credit card issuer" means a person who extends to a consumer the right to use a credit card in connection with purchases.
"Foreign transaction fee" means a fee or charge assessed on a purchase or transaction made in a foreign country, when the currency used for that purchase or transaction is United States dollars, and which is not assessed to directly offset any service or expense incurred by the credit card issuer with respect to the processing or payment of that specific purchase or transaction.
2. It shall be an unlawful practice for a credit card issuer to assess a foreign transaction fee on any credit card purchase or transaction made by a resident of this State.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the thirteenth month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would make it an unlawful practice for a credit card issuer to assess a foreign transaction fee on any credit card purchase or transaction made by a resident of this State.
It is currently common practice for credit card companies to charge fees to their customers for purchases made abroad, even if the purchases are made in United States dollars. These fees often appear on billing statements as "foreign transaction fees," "international transaction fees," "currency conversion fees," "international conversion fees," or fees with other similar names. Since these fees are not assessed to offset the cost of currency conversion, or any other service or expense incurred by the credit card issuer with respect to the processing of the specific purchase, it is apparent that they are merely imposed because of where the transaction took place. This bill would prohibit credit card issuers from levying these types of fees upon New Jersey residents.
An unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud Act is punishable by a monetary penalty of not more than $10,000 for a first offense and not more than $20,000 for any subsequent offense. In addition, a violation can result in cease and desist orders issued by the Attorney General, the assessment of punitive damages and the awarding of treble damages and costs to the injured.