Prevention of Credit Card Company Unfair Business Practices

V.S.A. tit. 9, ch. 63, subch. 4

in effect

9 V.S.A. § 2480o Definitions

2480o. Definitions As used in this subchapter: (1) “Electronic payment system” means an entity that directly or through licensed members, processors, or agents provides the proprietary services, infrastructure, and software that route information and data to facilitate transaction authorization, clearance, and settlement, and that merchants are required to access in order to accept a specific brand of general-purpose credit cards, charge cards, debit cards, or stored-value cards as payment for goods and services. (2) “Merchant” means a person or entity that, in Vermont: (A)(i) does business; or (ii) offers goods or services for sale; and (B) has a physical presence. Added 2009, No. 116 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2011.

9 V.S.A. § 2480p Electronic payment systems

2480p. Electronic payment systems With respect to transactions involving Vermont merchants, no electronic payment system may directly or through any agent, processor, or member of the system: (1) impose any requirement, condition, penalty, or fine in a contract with a merchant to inhibit the ability of any merchant to provide a discount or other benefit for payment through the use of a card of another electronic payment system, cash, check, debit card, stored-value card, charge card, or credit card rather than another form of payment; (2) impose any requirement, condition, penalty, or fine in a contract with a merchant to prevent the ability of any merchant to set a minimum dollar value of no more than $10.00 for its acceptance of a form of payment, provided that if a minimum dollar value is set by a merchant, it shall be prominently displayed and printed in not less than 16-point boldface type at the point of sale; (3) impose any requirement, condition, penalty, or fine in a contract with a merchant to inhibit the ability of any merchant to decide to accept an electronic payment system at one or more of its locations but not at others. Added 2009, No. 116 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2011.

9 V.S.A. § 2480q Penalties

2480q. Penalties (a) The following penalties shall apply to violations of this subchapter: (1) Any electronic payment system found to have violated section 2480p of this subchapter shall reimburse all affected merchants for all fines related to the prohibitions described in section 2480p of this subchapter that were collected from affected merchants directly or through any agent, processor, or member of the system during the period of time in which the electronic payment system was in violation and shall be liable for a civil penalty of $10,000.00 per fine levied in violation of section 2480p of this subchapter. (2) Any merchant whose rights under this subchapter have been violated may maintain a civil action for damages or equitable relief as provided for in this section, including attorney’s fees, if any. (3) A violation of section 2480p of this subchapter shall be deemed a violation of section 2453 of this title. The Attorney General has the same authority to conduct civil investigations, enter into assurances of discontinuance, and bring civil actions as provided under subchapter 1 of this chapter. (b) These penalties shall not apply to entities acting exclusively as agents, processors, or members that are not electronic payment systems. Added 2009, No. 116 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; amended 2011, No. 109 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 8, 2012; 2011, No. 136 (Adj. Sess.), § 1a, eff. May 18, 2012.

9 V.S.A. § 2480r Severability

2480r. Severability If any provision of this subchapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this subchapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and, to this end, the provisions of this subchapter are severable. Added 2009, No. 116 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2011.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/09/063Fetched: 10/21/2026