The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) was enacted in New York, among other reasons, to make uniform the law among the various jurisdictions, and to simplify, modernize and clarify the law governing commercial transactions. See, e.g., Lexis Goldbook, NY Commercial Law, §2, 2019 ed. Many of the provisions of the UCC were sufficiently broad enough to encompass new technological advances in transacting business. Nevertheless, some provisions were not, and as to those provisions changes were proposed and some legislated. One rule under recent scrutiny because of increased hacking by cybercriminals of bank account wire transfers is the damages cap under §4-103, which this article will address.

Online Banking Security and Authentication Protocols

In the last 30 years, the growth and nature of banking transactions have become infinitesimally more complex and robust. In 1988, over 48 billion paper checks were processed in the United States. In 2018, there were over 174 billion non-cash transactions that occurred in the United States. See Federal Reserve 2019 Payments Study. The Federal Trade Commission estimated that wire fraud exceeded $420 million dollars in the United States in 2018. See Paul Witt, The Top Frauds of 2018, Federal Trade Commission (Feb. 28, 2019).