(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, no financial institution located in this state issuing credit cards in this state shall sell or transfer the names of any of its credit cardholders to any person or entity seeking such names for the purpose of soliciting such cardholders.

(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit any financial institution from:

(1) Selling or transferring the names of any of its credit cardholders: (A) As part of the sale, transfer or pledge of some or all of the credit card issuer's credit card accounts or credit card business; or (B) to a direct or indirect subsidiary of the issuer, a direct or indirect parent of the issuer, or to another subsidiary of a common direct or indirect parent of the issuer;

(2) Transferring the names of any of its credit cardholders to persons or entities providing credit card account processing services, billing services, fraud prevention services, charge-back services, credit reporting services, debt collection services or other account-related services;

(3) Providing the names of any of its credit cardholders to any person that: (A) Provides the issuer with a list of potential customers containing such cardholder's name, if the cardholder obtained his or her credit card as the result of the issuer's use of such list in its solicitation efforts; (B) assisted the issuer in attracting, soliciting or persuading such cardholder to apply for or to accept a credit card issued by the issuer; or (C) was a party to a transaction involving the cardholder's credit card;

(4) Transferring the names of any of its credit cardholders to persons engaged by the credit card issuer to offer its cardholders products or services, provided such person agrees in writing: (A) To keep such names confidential; and (B) to only use such names for the purpose of offering such products or services; or

(5) Transferring or selling the names of any of its credit cardholders to any person or entity, with the permission of such cardholders.

(P.A. 89-264, S. 3; P.A. 96-15, S. 1, 2.)

History: P.A. 96-15 amended Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (b) to let financial institutions sell or transfer the names of credit cardholders subject to prescribed conditions, effective April 29, 1996.