15 U.S.C. § 1666e — Notification of credit card issuer by sell-

Page 1542 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 1666d 1 So in original. Probably should be preceded by ‘‘a’’. AMENDMENTS 2010—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–203, § 1100A(2), sub- stituted ‘‘Bureau’’ for ‘‘Board’’. See Codification note above. 2009—Pub. L. 111–24, § 104(1), substituted ‘‘Prompt and fair crediting of payments’’ for ‘‘Prompt crediting of payments’’ in section catchline, designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), and inserted subsec. (a) head- ing. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–24, § 104(2), (3), inserted ‘‘, by 5:00 p.m. on the date on which such payment is due,’’ after ‘‘in readily identifiable form’’ and substituted ‘‘manner, and location’’ for ‘‘manner, location, and time’’. Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 111–24, § 104(4), added subsecs. (b) and (c). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2010 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective on the des- ignated transfer date, see section 1100H of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as a note under section 552a of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2009 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 111–24 effective 9 months after May 22, 2009, except as otherwise specifically provided, see section 3 of Pub. L. 111–24, set out as a note under section 1602 of this title. § 1666d. Treatment of credit balances Whenever a credit balance in excess of $1 is created in connection with a consumer credit transaction through (1) transmittal of funds to a creditor in excess of the total balance due on an account, (2) rebates of unearned finance charges or insurance premiums, or (3) amounts other- wise owed to or held for the benefit of an obli- gor, the creditor shall— (A) credit the amount of the credit balance to the consumer’s account; (B) refund any part of the amount of the re- maining credit balance, upon request of the consumer; and (C) make a good faith effort to refund to the consumer by cash, check, or money order any part of the amount of the credit balance re- maining in the account for more than six months, except that no further action is re- quired in any case in which the consumer’s current location is not known by the creditor and cannot be traced through the consumer’s last known address or telephone number. (Pub. L. 90–321, title I, § 165, as added Pub. L. 93–495, title III, § 306, Oct. 28, 1974, 88 Stat. 1514; amended Pub. L. 96–221, title VI, § 621(a), Mar. 31, 1980, 94 Stat. 184.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1980—Pub. L. 96–221 substituted provisions relating to duties of creditor whenever a credit balance in excess of $1 is created in connection with a consumer credit transaction, for provisions relating to duties of creditor whenever an obligor transmits funds to creditor in ex- cess of the total balance due on an open end consumer credit account. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1980 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 96–221 effective on expiration of two years and six months after Mar. 31, 1980, with all regulations, forms, and clauses required to be pre- scribed to be promulgated at least one year prior to such effective date, and allowing any creditor to com- ply with any amendments, in accordance with the regu- lations, forms, and clauses prescribed by the Board prior to such effective date, see section 625 of Pub. L. 96–221, set out as a note under section 1602 of this title. § 1666e. Notification of credit card issuer by sell- er of return of goods, etc., by obligor; credit for account of obligor With respect to any sales transaction where a credit card has been used to obtain credit, where the seller is a person other than the card issuer, and where the seller accepts or allows a return of the goods or forgiveness of a debit for services which were the subject of such sale, the seller shall promptly transmit to the credit card issuer, a credit statement with respect thereto and the credit card issuer shall credit the ac- count of the obligor for the amount of the trans- action. (Pub. L. 90–321, title I, § 166, as added Pub. L. 93–495, title III, § 306, Oct. 28, 1974, 88 Stat. 1514.) § 1666f. Inducements to cardholders by sellers of cash discounts for payments by cash, check or similar means; finance charge for sales transactions involving cash discounts (a) Cash discounts With respect to credit 1 card which may be used for extensions of credit in sales trans- actions in which the seller is a person other than the card issuer, the card issuer may not, by contract or otherwise, prohibit any such seller from offering a discount to a cardholder to in- duce the cardholder to pay by cash, check, or similar means rather than use a credit card. (b) Finance charge With respect to any sales transaction, any dis- count from the regular price offered by the sell- er for the purpose of inducing payment by cash, checks, or other means not involving the use of an open-end credit plan or a credit card shall not constitute a finance charge as determined under section 1605 of this title if such discount is offered to all prospective buyers and its avail- ability is disclosed clearly and conspicuously. (Pub. L. 90–321, title I, § 167, as added Pub. L. 93–495, title III, § 306, Oct. 28, 1974, 88 Stat. 1515; amended Pub. L. 94–222, § 3(c)(1), Feb. 27, 1976, 90 Stat. 197; Pub. L. 97–25, title I, § 101, July 27, 1981, 95 Stat. 144.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1981—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97–25 substituted ‘‘With re- spect to any sales transaction, any discount from the regular price offered by the seller for the purpose of in- ducing payment by cash, checks, or other means not in- volving the use of an open-end credit plan or a credit card shall not constitute a finance charge as deter- mined under section 1605 of this title if such discount is offered to all prospective buyers and its availability is disclosed clearly and conspicuously’’ for ‘‘With re- spect to any sales transaction, any discount not in ex- cess of 5 per centum offered by the seller for the pur-