8-157.01. Establishing financial institution; automatic teller machines; use; availability; user financial institution; switch; use and access; duties.

(1) Any establishing financial institution may establish and maintain any number of automatic teller machines at which all banking transactions, defined as receiving deposits of every kind and nature and crediting such to customer accounts, cashing checks and cash withdrawals, transferring funds from checking accounts to savings accounts, transferring funds from savings accounts to checking accounts, transferring funds from either checking accounts and savings accounts to accounts of other customers, transferring payments from customer accounts into accounts maintained by other customers of the financial institution or the financial institution, including preauthorized draft authority, preauthorized loans, and credit transactions, receiving payments payable at the financial institution or otherwise, account balance inquiry, and any other transaction incidental to the business of the financial institution or which will provide a benefit to the financial institution's customers or the general public, may be conducted. Any automatic teller machine owned by a nonfinancial institution third party shall be sponsored by an establishing financial institution. Neither such automatic teller machines nor the transactions conducted thereat shall be construed as the establishment of a branch or as branch banking.

(2) Any financial institution may become a user financial institution by agreeing to pay the establishing financial institution the automatic teller machine usage fee. Such agreement shall be implied by the use of such automatic teller machines.

(3)(a)(i) All automatic teller machines shall be made available on a nondiscriminating basis for use by Nebraska customers of a user financial institution and (ii) all Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions initiated by Nebraska customers of a user financial institution shall be made on a nondiscriminating basis.

(b) It shall not be deemed discrimination if (i) an automatic teller machine does not offer the same transaction services as other automatic teller machines, (ii) there are no automatic teller machine usage fees charged between affiliate financial institutions for the use of automatic teller machines, (iii) the automatic teller machine usage fees of an establishing financial institution that authorizes and directly or indirectly routes Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions to multiple switches, all of which comply with the requirements of subdivision (3)(d) of this section, differ solely based upon the fees established by the switches, (iv) automatic teller machine usage fees differ based upon whether the transaction initiated at an automatic teller machine is subject to a surcharge or provided on a surcharge-free basis, or (v) the automatic teller machines established or sponsored by an establishing financial institution are made available for use by Nebraska customers of any user financial institution which agrees to pay the automatic teller machine usage fee and which conforms to the operating rules and technical standards established by the switch to which a Nebraska automatic teller machine transaction is directly or indirectly routed.

(c) The director, upon notice and after a hearing, may terminate or suspend the use of any automatic teller machine if he or she determines that the automatic teller machine is not made available on a nondiscriminating basis or that Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions initiated at such automatic teller machine are not made on a nondiscriminating basis.

(d) A switch (i) shall provide to all financial institutions that have a main office or approved branch located in the State of Nebraska and that conform to the operating rules and technical standards established by the switch an equal opportunity to participate in the switch for the use of and access thereto; (ii) shall be capable of operating to accept and route Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions, whether receiving data from an automatic teller machine, an establishing financial institution, or a data processing center; and (iii) shall be capable of being directly or indirectly connected to every data processing center for any automatic teller machine.

(e) The director, upon notice and after a hearing, may terminate or suspend the operation of any switch with respect to all Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions if he or she determines that the switch is not being operated in the manner required under subdivision (3)(d) of this section.

(f) Subject to the requirement for a financial institution to comply with this subsection, no user financial institution or establishing financial institution shall be required to become a member of any particular switch.

(4) Any consumer initiating an electronic funds transfer at an automatic teller machine for which an automatic teller machine surcharge will be imposed shall receive notice in accordance with the provisions of 15 U.S.C. 1693b(d)(3)(A) and (B), as such section existed on January 1, 2019. Such notice shall appear on the screen of the automatic teller machine or appear on a paper notice issued from such machine after the transaction is initiated and before the consumer is irrevocably committed to completing the transaction.

(5) A point-of-sale terminal may be established at any point within this state by a financial institution, a group of two or more financial institutions, or a combination of a financial institution or financial institutions and a third party or parties. Such parties may contract with a seller of goods and services or any other third party for the operation of point-of-sale terminals.

(6) A seller of goods and services or any other third party on whose premises one or more point-of-sale terminals are established shall not be, solely by virtue of such establishment, a financial institution and shall not be subject to the laws governing, or other requirements imposed on, financial institutions, except for the requirement that it faithfully perform its obligations in connection with any transaction originated at any point-of-sale terminal on its premises.

(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit nonbank employees from assisting in transactions originated at automatic teller machines or point-of-sale terminals, and such assistance shall not be deemed to be engaging in the business of banking.

(8)(a) Annually by September 1, any entity operating as a switch in Nebraska shall file a notice with the department setting forth its name, address, and contact information for an officer authorized to answer inquiries related to its operations in Nebraska.

(b) Any entity intending to operate in Nebraska as a switch shall file a notice with the department setting forth its name, address, and contact information for an officer authorized to answer inquiries related to its operations in Nebraska. Such notice shall be filed at least thirty days prior to the date on which the switch commences operations, and thereafter annually by September 1.

(9) Nothing in this section prohibits ordinary clearinghouse transactions between financial institutions.

(10) Nothing in this section shall prevent any financial institution which has a main chartered office or an approved branch located in the State of Nebraska from participating in a national automatic teller machine program to allow its customers to use automatic teller machines located outside of the State of Nebraska which are established by out-of-state financial institutions or foreign financial institutions or to allow customers of out-of-state financial institutions or foreign financial institutions to use its automatic teller machines. Such participation and any automatic teller machine usage fees charged or received pursuant to the national automatic teller machine program or usage fees charged for the use of its automatic teller machines by customers of out-of-state financial institutions or foreign financial institutions shall not be considered for purposes of determining (a) if an automatic teller machine has been made available or Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions have been made on a nondiscriminating basis for use by Nebraska customers of a user financial institution or (b) if a switch complies with subdivision (3)(d) of this section.

(11) An agreement to operate or share an automatic teller machine may not prohibit, limit, or restrict the right of the operator or owner of the automatic teller machine to charge a customer conducting a transaction using an account from a foreign financial institution an access fee or surcharge not otherwise prohibited under state or federal law.

(12) Switch fees shall not be subject to this section or be regulated by the department.

(13) Nothing in this section shall prevent a group of two or more credit unions, each of which has a main chartered office or an approved branch located in the State of Nebraska, from participating in a credit union service organization organized on or before January 1, 2015, for the purpose of owning automatic teller machines, provided that all participating credit unions have an ownership interest in the credit union service organization and that the credit union service organization has an ownership interest in each of the participating credit unions' automatic teller machines. Such participation and any automatic teller machine usage fees associated with Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions initiated by customers of participating credit unions at such automatic teller machines shall not be considered for purposes of determining if such automatic teller machines have been made available on a nondiscriminating basis or if Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions initiated at such automatic teller machines have been made on a nondiscriminating basis, provided that all Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions initiated by customers of participating credit unions result in the same automatic teller machine usage fees for essentially the same service routed over the same switch.

(14) Nebraska automatic teller machine usage fees and any agreements relating to Nebraska automatic teller machine usage fees shall comply with subsection (3) of this section.

(15) For purposes of this section:

(a) Access means the ability to utilize an automatic teller machine or a point-of-sale terminal to conduct permitted banking transactions or purchase goods and services electronically;

(b) Account means a checking account, a savings account, a share account, or any other customer asset account held by a financial institution. Such an account may also include a line of credit which a financial institution has agreed to extend to its customer;

(c) Affiliate financial institution means any financial institution which is a subsidiary of the same bank holding company;

(d) Automatic teller machine usage fee means any per transaction fee established by a switch or otherwise established on behalf of an establishing financial institution and collected from the user financial institution and paid to the establishing financial institution for the use of the automatic teller machine. An automatic teller machine usage fee shall not include switch fees;

(e) Electronic funds transfer means any transfer of funds, other than a transaction originated by check, draft, or similar paper instrument, that is initiated through a point-of-sale terminal, an automatic teller machine, or a personal terminal for the purpose of ordering, instructing, or authorizing a financial institution to debit or credit an account;

(f) Essentially the same service means the same Nebraska automatic teller machine transaction offered by an establishing financial institution irrespective of the user financial institution, the Nebraska customer of which initiates the Nebraska automatic teller machine transaction. A Nebraska automatic teller machine transaction that is subject to a surcharge is not essentially the same service as the same banking transaction for which a surcharge is not imposed;

(g) Establishing financial institution means any financial institution which has a main chartered office or approved branch located in the State of Nebraska that establishes or sponsors an automatic teller machine or any out-of-state financial institution that establishes or sponsors an automatic teller machine;

(h) Financial institution means a bank, savings bank, building and loan association, savings and loan association, or credit union, whether chartered by the department, the United States, or a foreign state agency; any other similar organization which is covered by federal deposit insurance; or a subsidiary of any such entity;

(i) Foreign financial institution means a financial institution located outside the United States;

(j) Nebraska automatic teller machine transaction means a banking transaction as defined in subsection (1) of this section which is (i) initiated at an automatic teller machine established in whole or in part or sponsored by an establishing financial institution, (ii) for an account of a Nebraska customer of a user financial institution, and (iii) processed through a switch regardless of whether it is routed directly or indirectly from an automatic teller machine;

(k) Personal terminal means a personal computer and telephone, wherever located, operated by a customer of a financial institution for the purpose of initiating a transaction affecting an account of the customer;

(l) Sponsoring an automatic teller machine means the acceptance of responsibility by an establishing financial institution for compliance with all provisions of law governing automatic teller machines and Nebraska automatic teller machine transactions in connection with an automatic teller machine owned by a nonfinancial institution third party;

(m) Switch fee means a fee established by a switch and assessed to a user financial institution or to an establishing financial institution other than an automatic teller machine usage fee; and

(n) User financial institution means any financial institution which has a main chartered office or approved branch located in the State of Nebraska which avails itself of and provides its customers with automatic teller machine services.

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