Wire Fraud Prevention Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 264

Short Title: Wire Fraud Prevention Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Zenger, Howard, and Davis (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Judiciary 1, if favorable, Commerce and Economic Development, if favorable,
Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
March 4, 2025
*H264-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO ENACT THE WIRE FRAUD PREVENTION ACT. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
SECTION 1. G.S. 25-4A-201 reads as rewritten: 4
"§ 25-4A-201. Security procedure. 5
"Security procedure" means a procedure established by agreement of a customer and a 6
receiving bank for the purpose of (i) verifying that a payment order or communication amending 7
or cancelling a payment order is that of the customer, or (ii) detecting erro r in the transmission 8
or the content of the payment order or communication. A security procedure shall require the 9
receiving bank to verbally verify the payment order or communication with the customer and, if 10
the receiving bank is the beneficiary 's bank, the beneficiary. A security procedure may also 11
require the use of algorithms or other codes, identifying words or numbers, encryption, call-back 12
procedures, or similar security devices. Comparison of a signature on a payment order or 13
communication with an authorized specimen signature of the customer is not by itself a security 14
procedure." 15
SECTION 2. G.S. 25-4A-204 reads as rewritten: 16
"§ 25 -4A-204. Refund of payment and duty of customer to report with respect to 17
unauthorized payment order. 18
(a) If a receiving bank accepts a payment order issued in the name of its customer as 19
sender which that is (i) not authorized and not effective as the order of the customer under 20
G.S. 25-4A-202, or (ii) not enforceable, in whole or in part, against the custome r under 21
G.S. 25-4A-203, the bank shall refund any payment of the payment order received from the 22
customer to the extent the bank is not entitled to enforce payment and shall pay interest on the 23
refundable amount calculated from the date the bank received payment to the date of the refund. 24
However, the customer is not entitled to interest from the bank on the amount to be refunded if 25
the customer fails to exercise ordinary care to determine that the order was not authorized by the 26
customer and to notify the bank of the relevant facts within a reasonable time not exceeding 90 27
days after the date the customer received notification from the bank that the order was accepted 28
or that the customer's account was debited with respect to the order. The bank is not enti tled to 29
any recovery from the customer on account of a failure by the customer to give notification as 30
stated in this section. 31
(a1) If a receiving bank accepts a payment order issued in the name of its customer as 32
sender that is not authorized under G.S. 25-4A-202(a) but that is effective as an order of the 33
customer under G.S. 25-4A-202(b), the bank shall refund twenty -five percent (25%) of any 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 264-First Edition
payment of the payment order received from the customer within 30 days of discovering that the 1
payment order was not authorized. 2
(b) Reasonable time under subsection (a) of this section may be fixed by agreement as 3
stated in G.S. 25-1-302(b), but the obligation of a receiving bank to refund payment as stated in 4
subsection (a) of this section may shall not otherwise be varied by agreement." 5
SECTION 3. G.S. 25-4A-404 reads as rewritten: 6
"§ 25-4A-404. Obligation of beneficiary's bank to pay and give notice to beneficiary. 7
(a) Subject to G.S. 25-4A-211(e), 25 -4A-405(d), and 25 -4A-405(e), if a beneficiary's 8
bank accepts a payment order, the bank is obliged to pay the amount of the order to the 9
beneficiary of the order. Payment is due on the payment date of the order, but if acceptance 10
occurs on the payment date after the close of the funds-transfer business day of the bank, payment 11
is due on the next funds -transfer business day. However, if the beneficiary's account with the 12
bank was opened within one year and the payment amount is greater than one hundred thousand 13
dollars ($100,000), the bank shall pay the beneficiary only twenty-five percent (25%) of th e 14
payment amount on this date and shall pay the remaining amount 10 funds-transfer business days 15
later without interest. 16
(a1) If the bank refuses to pay after demand by the beneficiary and receipt of notice of 17
particular circumstances that will give rise to consequential damages as a result of nonpayment, 18
the beneficiary may recover damages resulting from the refusal to pay to the extent the bank had 19
notice of the damages, unless the bank proves that it did not pay becaus e of a reasonable doubt 20
concerning the right of the beneficiary to payment. 21
(b) If a payment order accepted by the beneficiary's bank instructs payment to an account 22
of the beneficiary, the bank is obliged to notify the beneficiary of receipt of the order before 23
midnight of the next funds -transfer business day following the payment date. If the payment 24
order does not instruct payment to an account of the beneficiary, the bank is required to notify 25
the beneficiary only if notice is required by the order. Notice may be given by first-class mail or 26
any other means reasonable in the circumstances. If the bank fails to give the required notice, the 27
bank is obliged to pay interest to the beneficiary on the amount of the payment order from the 28
day notice should have been given until the day the beneficiary learned of receipt of the payment 29
order by the bank. No other damages are recoverable. Reasonable attorneys' fees are also 30
recoverable if demand for interest is made and refused before an action is brought on the claim. 31
(c) The right of a beneficiary to receive payment and damages as stated in subsection (a) 32
may of this section shall not be varied by agreement or a funds-transfer system rule. The right of 33
a beneficiary to be notified as stated in subsection (b) of this section may be varied by agreement 34
of the beneficiary or by a funds-transfer system rule if the beneficiary is notified of the rule before 35
initiation of the funds transfer." 36
SECTION 4. The Revisor of Statutes shall cause to be printed as annotations to the 37
published General Statutes all explanatory comments of the drafters of this act as the Revisor 38
deems appropriate. 39
SECTION 5. This act becomes effective October 1, 2025, and applies to funds 40
transfers commencing on or after that date. 41