New Jersey A 5354: Upgrades criminal penalties for use or possession of payment card scanning device; requires merchant to take reasonable safety measures to prevent scanning of payment card.

Bill Text

(Sponsorship Updated As Of: 11/30/2023) 
[First Reprint] 
ASSEMBLY, No. 5354  
 
STATE OF NEW JERSEY 
220th LEGISLATURE 
   
INTRODUCED MARCH 30, 2023 
 
 
Sponsored by: 
Assemblywoman  CAROL A. MURPHY 
District 7 (Burlington) 
Assemblywoman  ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT 
District 31 (Hudson) 
Assemblyman  REGINALD W. ATKINS 
District 20 (Union) 
 
Co-Sponsored by: 
Assemblyman Webber 
 
 
 
 
SYNOPSIS 
 Upgrades criminal penalties for use or possession of payment card scanning 
device;  requires  merchant  to  take  reasonable  safety  measures  to  prevent 
scanning of payment card.  
 
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT  
 As reported by the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee on May 8, 2023, 
with amendments. 
    

 
A5354 [1R] MURPHY, MCKNIGHT 
2 
 
 EXPLANATION – Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is 
not enacted and is intended to be omitted in the law. 
 
 Matter underlined thus is new matter. 
 Matter enclosed in superscript numerals has been adopted as follows: 
 
1
Assembly ACO committee amendments adopted May 8, 2023. 
AN ACT concerning  scanning  devices,  amending  P.L.2005,  c.225 1 
and supplementing P.L.1960, c.39 (C.56:8-1 et seq.).   2 
 3 
 BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 4 
of New Jersey: 5 
 6 
 1. Section  1  of  P.L.2005,  c.225  (C.2C:21-6.1)  is  amended  to 7 
read as follows:  8 
 1. a.  Definitions. As used in this section: 9 
 (1) "Merchant"  means  any  owner  or  operator  of  any  store  or 10 
other   retail   mercantile   establishment,   or   any   agent,   servant, 11 
employee,    lessee,    consignee,    officer,    director,    franchisee    or 12 
independent contractor of such owner or proprietor. 13 
 (2) "Payment  card"  means  a  credit  card,  charge  card,  debit  card 14 
or  any  other  card  that  is  issued  to  an  authorized  card  user  and  that 15 
allows  the  user  to  obtain,  purchase,  or  receive  goods,  services, 16 
money or anything of value from a merchant. 17 
 (3) "Reencoder" means an electronic device that places encoded 18 
information from the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card onto 19 
the  magnetic  strip  or stripe  of  a  different  payment  card  or  any 20 
electronic medium that allows a transaction to occur. 21 
 (4) "Scanning  device"  means  a  scanner,  skimmer,  reader  or  any 22 
other  electronic  device  that  is  used  to  access,  read,  scan,  obtain, 23 
memorize   or   store,   temporarily   or   permanently,   information 24 
encoded on the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card. 25 
 b. It  shall  be 
1
[a  crime  of  the  third  degree for  a  first  offense 26 
and  a  crime  of  the  second  degree  for  a  second  or  subsequent 27 
offense] unlawful
1
 for  a  person,  with  the intent  to  defraud  an 28 
authorized  user  of  a  payment  card,  the  issuer  of  the  authorized 29 
user's payment card or a merchant, to use: 30 
 (1) a scanning device to access, read, obtain, memorize or store, 31 
temporarily  or  permanently,  information  encoded  on  the  magnetic 32 
strip  or  stripe  of  a  payment  card,  without  the  permission  of  the 33 
authorized user of the payment card; or 34 
 (2) a  reencoder  to  place  information  encoded  on  the  magnetic 35 
strip or stripe of a payment card onto the magnetic strip or stripe of 36 
a  different  card  or  any  electronic  medium  that  allows  a  transaction 37 
to  occur  without  the  permission  of  the  authorized  user  of  the  card 38 
from which the information is being reencoded. 39 
 
1
An  offense  under  this  subsection  shall  be  a  crime  of  the  third 40 
degree; provided, however, it shall be a crime of the second degree if a 41 
subsequent  offense  results  in  a  theft  of  at  least  $50,000  or  if  the  first 42 
offense  and  the  subsequent  offense  result  in  a  combined  total  theft  of 43 
at least $50,000.
1 
44 

 
A5354 [1R] MURPHY, MCKNIGHT 
3 
 
 
 c. It shall be a crime of the fourth degree for a first offense and 1 
a crime of the third degree for a second or subsequent offense for a 2 
person  to  knowingly  possess  with  intent  to  commit  a  violation  of 3 
paragraph  (1)  or  (2)  of  subsection  b.  of  this  section  any  device, 4 
apparatus,  equipment,  software,  article,  material,  good,  property  or 5 
supply  that  is  specifically  designed  or  adapted  for  use  as  or  in  a 6 
scanning device or reencoder. 7 
(cf: P.L.2005, c.225, s.1) 8 
 9 
 2. (New section)  a.  As used in this section:  10 
 “Director”  means  the  Director  of  the  Division  of  Consumer 11 
Affairs. 12 
 "Merchant"  means  any  owner  or  operator  of  any  store  or  other 13 
retail  mercantile  establishment,  or  any  agent,  servant,  employee, 14 
lessee,   consignee,   officer,   director,   franchisee, or   independent 15 
contractor of such owner or proprietor. 16 
 “Payment Card” means a  credit  card,  charge  card,  debit  card, or 17 
any  other  card