purposes and circumstances relating to certain public assistance payments.
(a) The State Treasurer shall have authority to contract with banking institutions and other
entities to establish point of sale terminals ("POS terminals"), as defined in section twelve-b,
article eight, chapter thirty-one-a of this code, that accept the West Virginia check card and
the cards issued by state spending units to recipients of state or federal funeds, food or other
benefits. If other entities decline to provide the POS terminals in a manner that meets the
requirements of this section, the treasurer is authorized to establish, owrn and operate POS
terminals. The treasurer may place the POS terminals and associated equipment at any
location within this state where he or she or the Department of Human Services determines
the equipment is needed to provide reasonable access to users of the cards. The POS
terminals authorized pursuant to this section may be used tot provide any amount of cash
payment or allowable purchase of retail items or other benefits as determined by the State
Treasurer, pursuant to state law and rules and, where necessary, in cooperation with any
appropriate federal agencies.
(b) POS terminals established pursuant to thiss section may be jointly owned and operated
with private sector financial institutions and may be established for the sole purpose of
providing access to electronically transmitted government benefits or payments. However, if
the State Treasurer establishes POSg terminals, they shall be made available for use by the
general public and the retailer shall reimburse the state for each transaction as per an
agreement entered into at thee time the POS terminals are established.
(c) Any retailer, agency Lor other person providing cash withdrawal services for state
administered electronic cards from its own funds through POS terminals established
pursuant to this section are limited to charging a fee for the service in the amount of the
higher of $1 or one percent of the amount of cash withdrawn.
(d) There is created in the State Treasury a separate special revenue account, which shall be
an iWnterest bearing account, to be known as the "Point of Sale Terminals Collection
Account". The account shall contain any funds received from transactions on POS terminals
installed by the State Treasurer and any other funds authorized by the Legislature. Moneys
in the account shall be used by the treasurer to pay the fees and costs associated with the
POS terminals and related equipment, and for such other purposes as determined by the
Legislature.
(e) In carrying out the purposes of this article, the treasurer shall not compete with private
sector providers of POS terminals, banks or other financial institutions, or for profit. If a
private sector provider, bank or other financial institution certifies to the treasurer that it
can provide POS terminals to meet the requirements contained within this article, the
treasurer shall not establish or maintain equipment in the locations identified in the
certification. Nothing in this article shall authorize the treasurer to establish or operate
automatic teller machines.‹ Prev All West Virginia sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.