For purposes of this part:
(a) Account
(1) Means a transaction, savings, or other
asset account (other than an occasional or incidental credit balance
in a credit plan) established for any purpose and that is located
in the United States; and
(2) Does not include an account held under a bona fide trust agreement
that is excluded by section 903(2) of the Electronic Fund Transfer
Act and rules prescribed thereunder.
(b) Acquirer means a person that contracts directly or indirectly
with a merchant to provide settlement for the merchant’s electronic
debit transactions over a payment card network. An acquirer does not
include a person that acts only as a processor for the services it
provides to the merchant.
(c) Affiliate means
any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control
with another company.
(d) Cardholder means
the person to whom a debit card is issued.
(e) Control of a company means—
(1) Ownership, control, or power to vote
25 percent or more of the outstanding shares of any class of voting
security of the company, directly or indirectly, or acting through
one or more other persons;
(2) Control in any manner over the election of a majority of the
directors, trustees, or general partners (or individuals exercising
similar functions) of the company; or
(3) The power to exercise, directly or
indirectly, a controlling influence over the management or policies
of the company, as the Board determines.
(f) Debit card
(1) Means any card, or other payment code
or device, issued or approved for use through a payment card network
to debit an account, regardless of whether authorization is based
on signature, personal identification number (PIN), or other means,
and regardless of whether the issuer holds the account, and
(2) Includes any general-use
prepaid card; and
(3)
Does not include—
(i) Any card, or other payment
code or device, that is redeemable upon presentation at only a single
merchant or an affiliated group of merchants for goods or services;
or
(ii) A check,
draft, or similar paper instrument, or an electronic representation
thereof.
(g) Designated
automated teller machine (ATM) network means either—
(1) All ATMs identified in the name of
the issuer; or
(2) Any
network of ATMs identified by the issuer that provides reasonable
and convenient access to the issuer’s customers.
(h) Electronic debit transaction
(1) Means the use of a debit
card by a person as a form of payment in the United States to initiate
a debit to an account, and
(2) Does not include transactions initiated
at an ATM, including cash withdrawals and balance transfers initiated
at an ATM.
(i) General-use prepaid
card means a card, or other payment code or device, that is—
(1) Issued on a prepaid basis in a specified
amount, whether or not that amount may be increased or reloaded, in
exchange for payment; and
(2) Redeemable upon presentation at multiple, unaffiliated merchants
for goods or services.
(j) Interchange
transaction fee means any fee established, charged, or received
by a payment card network and paid by a merchant or an acquirer for
the purpose of compensating an issuer for its involvement in an electronic
debit transaction.
(k) Issuer means any
person that authorizes the use of a debit card to perform an electronic
debit transaction.
(l) Merchant means
any person that accepts debit cards as payment.
(m) Payment card network means an entity that—
(1) Directly or indirectly provides the
proprietary services, infrastructure, and software that route information
and data to an issuer from an acquirer to conduct the authorization,
clearance, and settlement of electronic debit transactions; and
(2) A merchant uses in
order to accept as a form of payment a brand of debit card or other
device that may be used to carry out electronic debit transactions.
(n) Person means a natural person
or an organization, including a corporation, government agency, estate,
trust, partnership, proprietorship, cooperative, or association.
(o) Processor means a person that processes
or routes electronic debit transactions for issuers, acquirers, or
merchants.
(p) Route means to direct and
send information and data to an unaffiliated entity or to an affiliated
entity acting on behalf of an unaffiliated entity.
(q) United States means the States, territories, and possessions
of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, or any political subdivision of any of the foregoing.
