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Committee advances bill increasing penalties and merchant security requirements for payment-card skimming devices
Summary
The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee voted to release Assembly Bill 12-11 as amended to increase criminal penalties for payment-card skimming devices and to require merchants to take reasonable security steps; business groups urged clarifying amendments to avoid disproportionate burdens on small merchants.
Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman Samson on March moved Assembly Bill 12-11 forward after testimony from business groups and amendments to the bill were adopted.
The bill increases criminal penalties for use or possession of payment-card scanning devices and requires merchants to take “reasonable safety measures” to prevent card skimming, with the committee amending the effective date to one year after enactment rather than six months.
Supporters said stronger penalties are needed to deter a growing problem in which criminals install skimming devices on point-of-sale terminals. Eric Blomgren of the New Jersey Gasoline & Convenience Store Association said he and his members support increased penalties and described rapid, opportunistic installations of devices that can cost a retailer customer trust. He and other witnesses urged changes to the bill’s implementation provisions to avoid overly prescriptive requirements that could require costly cameras or per-terminal antivirus and encryption for small merchants.
Althea Ford, vice president of government affairs for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, echoed support for the bill’s concept while warning that implementation details could impose high costs on small and medium-size businesses. Representatives of the New Jersey Food Council and its counsel also said they support the enhanced penalties but submitted amendments and argued for clearer separation between immediately effective penalties and longer timelines for Department of Consumer Affairs public-awareness or best-practice work.
Committee discussion focused on the cost implications for merchants of camera, encryption, or antivirus mandates and on clarifying the bill’s effective dates for penalties versus required agency actions. Counsel for the Food Council explained the substitute they provided would make penalties effective immediately while phasing in the public-awareness and certification work a year after enactment, which the committee accepted by amendment.
The committee voted to release AB 12-11 as amended. The roll call showed Assemblywoman Munoz, Assemblyman Egan, Assemblywoman McCoy and Chairman Samson voting yes.
The bill will proceed to the next stage with the committee’s amendment that extends some implementation timelines and leaves open additional technical amendments requested by business groups.
