G. Financial Transaction Card Crimes

• Library: The Criminal Law of South Carolina (SCBar) (2014 Ed.)

G. Financial Transaction Card Crimes

The Financial Transaction Card Crime Act, S.C. Code Ann. §§ 16-14-10 to -100 (2003 and Supp. 2012), initially enacted in 1980, was taken virtually verbatim from an act of the same name in North Carolina, N.C. Gen. Stat. Ann. §§ 14-113.8-113.17 (1993), an act described by the Supreme Court of North Carolina as one that "almost defies analysis." State v. Springer, 197 S.E.2d 530, 534 (N.C. 1973). The same act is in effect in Georgia. Ga. Code Ann. §§ 16-9-30 to -39 (1992).

The Act, which is not as precise as might be desired, is extremely broad in scope. The old statute, S.C. Code Ann. §§ 16-13-270-280 (1976) (repealed 1980), penalized improper use of credit cards only. The new Act, as its name implies, is not so limited. "Financial transaction card" or "FTC" is defined as "any instrument or device whether known as a credit card, credit plate, bank services card, banking card, check guarantee card, debit card, or by any other name, issued with or without fee by an issuer for the use of the cardholder." S.C. Code Ann. § 16-14-10(3) (2003).

The Crime Classification Act of 1993, effective January 1, 1994, left most of the penalties for financial transaction card offenses as they were. Consequently these penalties represent relatively lenient exceptions to the standard three-tiered approach of the act to most economic offenses.

Financial transaction card theft, financial transaction card forgery, and criminal possession of financial transaction card forgery devices are Class F felonies (five year maximum). S.C. Code Ann. §§ 16-14-20, 40, and 70 (2003). Financial transaction card...