Electronic Payments of Retail Installment Contracts
Summary
Electronic Payments of Retail Installment Contracts; 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.
Bill status
died
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026
Last action Mar 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
S 838 c1
→
S 838 e1
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was updated from a committee version to its first engrossed version, expanding the scope to specifically cover motor vehicle retail buyers and adding a new definition for 'ACH payment.' The fee collection requirements were also tightened to explicitly mandate that consumers must have a no-fee ACH option and that fees must be disclosed before the buyer agrees to pay.
Scope change
The bill's applicability was expanded to explicitly include motor vehicle retail buyers, whereas the previous version did not specify this category.
DEFINITION
Added a specific definition for 'ACH payment' to clarify that automated clearing house transfers are covered under the new fee rules.
SCOPE
Expanded the bill's scope to explicitly authorize fee collection rules for motor vehicle retail buyers.
REQUIREMENT
Strengthened disclosure and option requirements by explicitly mandating a no-fee ACH payment option and requiring fee disclosure before the buyer agrees to use a fee-based method.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 19, 2026
How they voted
39–0
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 40
Feb 19, 2026
D
Democratic11
100% Yea
I
Independent1
100% Yea
R
Republican28
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
22
Key actions
8
Committee
7
Feb 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
CS passed as amended; YEAS 38 NAYS 0
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Amendment(s) adopted (794450)
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Upper · Passed
Favorable by- Rules; YEAS 24 NAYS 0
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
On Committee agenda-- Rules, 02/17/26, 12:00 pm, 412 Knott Building
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Favorable by Banking and Insurance; YEAS 10 NAYS 0
upper
Jan 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
On Committee agenda-- Banking and Insurance, 02/04/26, 10:30 am, 412 Knott Building
upper
Jan 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced
upper
Jan 8, 2026
Upper · Passed
On Committee agenda-- Commerce and Tourism, 01/13/26, 4:00 pm, 110 Senate Building
upper
Dec 16, 2025
Committee
Referred to Commerce and Tourism; Banking and Insurance; Rules
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Clay Yarborough
RRepublican
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