Treatment of merchant funds

(a) All merchant funds shall constitute a trust fund until paid to the individual merchant. A merchant acquirer limited purpose bank shall have a fiduciary duty to preserve and account for merchant funds, and merchant acquirer limited purpose banks shall be liable for merchant funds. (b) All merchant funds shall be deposited immediately by the merchant acquirer limited purpose bank and shall remain in an account at a financial institution that is federally insured and authorized to do business in this state until paid over to the individual merchant; provided, however, that nothing in this Code section shall preclude a merchant acquirer limited purpose bank from making appropriate deductions for chargebacks, fees, reserves, and other costs related to providing authorized merchant acquiring services owed by the indi829 7-9-12.1 BANKING AND FINANCE 7-9-13 vidual merchant prior to remitting the net amount to the individual merchant. At the time of deposit into the account, the funds of the individual merchant in the account shall be deemed to be the property of the individual merchant. The merchant acquirer limited purpose bank shall maintain account records that identify individual merchants and the total amount held for each individual merchant. Such records shall be maintained in good faith and in the ordinary course of business and in a manner that can be readily ascertained. History. Code 1981, § 7-9-12.1, enacted by Ga. L. 2015, p. 344, § 39/HB 184. 7-9-13. Regulation and enforcement by department; rules and regulations. (a) All merchant acquirer limited purpose banks chartered by the department shall be subject to supervision, regulation, and examination by the department, including, but not limited to, the examination powers as provided in Code Sections 7-1-64 through 7-1-73, and the department shall have all enforcement powers provided in this title. (b) In the event any chartered merchant acquirer limited purpose bank does not conduct its activities within the limitations provided in Code Section 7-9-12, the department may require such merchant acquirer limited purpose bank to cease all unauthorized activities. In the event such chartered merchant acquirer limited purpose bank fails to abide by such order, the department may: (1) Impose upon the chartered merchant acquirer limited purpose bank or its parent holding company a penalty of up to $10,000.00 per day for each day such order is violated; and (2) Require divestiture of such chartered merchant acquirer limited purpose bank by any holding company not qualified to acquire such chartered merchant acquirer limited purpose bank on the date it ceased to operate within the limitations imposed by Code Section 7-9-12 and became a bank for purposes of this title. (c) The department shall have the power to promulgate rules and regulations implementing the provisions of this chapter. History. Code 1981, § 7-9-13, enacted by Ga. L. 2012, p. 43, § 1/HB 898; Ga. L. 2014, p. 226, § 2/HB 883. 830 TITLE 8 BUILDINGS AND HOUSING Chap. 1. General Provisions, Reserved. 2. Standards and Requirements for Construction and Alteration of Buildings and Other Structures, 8-2-1 through 8-2-222. 3. Housing Generally, 8-3-1 through 8-3-332. 4. Clearance and Rehabilitation of Blighted Areas, 8-4-1 through 8-4-12. 5. Art in State Buildings, 8-5-1 through 8-5-9. 6. Construction Activity Prohibition on Abandoned Landfills, 8-6-1 through 8-6-4. 7. Pesticides in Public Buildings, 8-7-1.