Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Consumer Payments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee backs 15-minute "cooling off" window for peer-to-peer transfers in HB 576
Summary
The committee approved HB 576, which would require a brief delay on peer-to-peer transfers to allow senders to reverse mistaken payments; penalties and enforcement will be handled by the state consumer division.
The House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee voted to advance HB 576, a consumer-protection bill that would require a short delay on peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers to let senders reverse mistaken payments.
The sponsor described the bill as a narrowly tailored remedy for consumers who lose money when instant-transfer platforms provide no effective recovery mechanism. The substitute, LC 550531, establishes a 15-minute cooling-off period after a P2P transfer, allowing most senders to cancel or correct an inadvertent transfer.
The sponsor said 15 minutes was chosen after discussions with affected consumers; the original draft proposed 30 minutes but the sponsor said most mistaken transfers are noticed within minutes. Representative Carter asked about penalties; the sponsor said enforcement and penalty determinations would be managed by Georgia's consumer division and that the text intentionally left penalty specifics to that agency.
Representative Osteen and other committee members said they supported the measure and suggested it could be extended to other bad actors in the P2P market. The sponsor noted a recent federal requirement forcing some platforms to provide live agents to field complaints but said consumer experience with such agents remains uneven.
By voice vote the committee recorded a do-pass recommendation for HB 576 (LC 550531). The committee discussion emphasized consumer recovery and left civil penalties and enforcement details to the state consumer protection division.
