BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1525
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1525 (Allen and Alejo)
As Amended August 24, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 17, 2012) |SENATE: |23-10|(August 29, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: AGING & L.T.C.
SUMMARY : Requires Money Transmitters to provide their
contracted agents with training materials on recognizing and
responding to elder or dependent adult financial abuse by April
1, 2013, and annually thereafter.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Requires money transmission licensees to provide their
contracted agents training material to help those agents
recognize, and respond to elder or dependent adult financial
abuse by April 1, 2013.
2)Requires money transmission licensees to provide newly
appointed agents with elder and dependent adult financial
abuse training material within one month of the new agent's
appointment.
3)Exempts licensees that deal solely with stored value (i.e.
gift cards, pre-paid credit cards, pay-roll cards), and limits
the applicability to money transmitters (i.e. Western Union,
MoneyGram) and the sales of payment instruments (i.e.
cashier's checks, money orders).
4)Exempts licensees that offer their services exclusively
through the Internet.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY ,
1)Added "money transmitter" to the definition of a mandated
reporter of suspected elder and dependent adult financial
abuse, and subjected them to the same standards for reporting
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known or suspected elder and dependent adult financial abuse
as those standards that currently apply to employees and
officers of banking institutions in California.
2)Defined money transmitter as a person or entity engaged in
selling or issuing payment instruments, or receiving money for
transmission.
3)Made a money transmitter, and the employer of a money
transmitter, subject to civil penalties for failure to report
suspected financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, potential minor court costs if this bill resulted in
a small number of new limited civil filings for failure to
report suspected financial abuse.
COMMENTS : The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) considers money
transfers risky, and inappropriate for anything other than
exchanges between people who know each other. According to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), seniors become targets of
elaborate fraud schemes because they are likely to have savings,
own their home, and have good credit.
Money transmitters operate in a variety of commercial retail
settings. For instance, Money Gram operates out of 98 outlets
in the City of Sacramento alone, including, among others, some
Bel Air grocery outlets, Longs Drugs stores, 7-Elevens, Advance
America outlets, and Ace Cash Express outlets. Money
Transmission Act licensees, such as Money Gram and Western
Union, typically do not have direct contact with customers at
point of sale. Money Transmission Act licensees consider those
who have direct customer contact at point of sale "agents," and
include employees of outlets, as well as the outlets themselves.
Analysis Prepared by : Robert MacLaughlin / AGING & L.T.C. /
(916) 319-3990
FN:
0005710
AB 1525
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