Florida SB 838: Fire Investigators

Bill Text

838 
Electronic Payments of Retail Installment Contracts 
2026-02-19T07:59:40Z 
Defining the terms “ACH payment” and “electronic payment”; authorizing holders of retail installment contracts and their agents to collect fees for processing electronic payments made by motor vehicle retail buyers under certain circumstances, etc. 
Engrossed 1 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
e1 

 CS for SB 838 First Engrossed 

 2026838e1 

 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to electronic payments of retail 
 3 installment contracts; creating s. 520.105, F.S.; 
 4 defining the terms “ACH payment” and “electronic 
 5 payment”; authorizing holders of retail installment 
 6 contracts and their agents to collect fees for 
 7 processing electronic payments made by motor vehicle 
 8 retail buyers under certain circumstances; providing 
 9 an effective date. 
 10 
 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 12 
 13 Section 1. Section 520.105, Florida Statutes, is created to 
 14 read: 
 15 520.105 Convenience fee for processing electronic 
 16 payments.— 
 17 (1) As used in this section, the term: 
 18 (a) “ACH payment” means a payment made by an automated 
 19 clearing house electronic transfer from a retail buyer’s bank 
 20 account. 
 21 (b) “Electronic payment” means a payment made by credit 
 22 card, debit card, electronic funds transfer, electronic check, 
 23 or other electronic method. 
 24 (2) A holder of a retail installment contract, or its 
 25 agent, may collect a fee for processing a retail buyer’s 
 26 electronic payment under the retail installment contract, 
 27 provided that all of the following conditions are met: 
 28 (a) The fee is reasonably related to the actual expense 
 29 incurred by the holder or its agent in processing the electronic 
 30 payment. 
 31 (b) The holder or its agent does all of the following: 
 32 1. Allows the retail buyer to make a payment by a method 
 33 other than a method that incurs a fee. 
 34 2. Maintains an option for a retail buyer to make an ACH 
 35 payment without collecting a fee. 
 36 3. Does not establish electronic payment as the expected 
 37 form of payment. 
 38 4. Before the retail buyer agrees to make a payment by a 
 39 method that incurs a fee, discloses all of the following: 
 40 a. The amount of the fee to be charged under this section. 
 41 b. The retail buyer’s option to make a payment by an 
 42 alternative method that does not incur a fee, including by cash, 
 43 check, money order, or ACH payment. 
 44 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.