WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are racing against next week’s close of the congressional sessions and trying to break free the credit union-backed bill to eliminate the dual fee disclosures required at ATMs.
Alabama Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, which passed the bill this summer, called on Senate leaders Wednesday to put the bill to a vote, considering it has broad support from both parties in the House and Senate. “The Senate has an opportunity to stem the tide of baseless, nuisance lawsuits that threaten consumers’ access to (ATMs),” said Bachus in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who must schedule a vote, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Meantime, so-called ATM vigilantes are continuing to sue credit unions and banks over provisions of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, which requires all ATMs have both the physical placard on the side of the machine disclosing the fees and the on-screen disclosures. A New York man named Don Anderson who has become the most prolific plaintiff has filed more EFTA suits this week, making a total of 56 he has brought against credit unions and banks in the last 18 months.
The ATM disclosure bill, which passed the House on a unanimous vote in July and was expected to easily pass the Senate too. But the bill is currently caught up in Senate politics with one Republican senator, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, putting a so-called hold on the bill until Senate leaders agree to put his own bill to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act to a vote.
In trying to move the bill, Bachus noted the measure has a lot to satisfy all parties, because it eliminates red tape while still leaving the requirement for a fee disclosure (it can be on-screen like most ATMs) “and it is bipartisan,” said Bachus in his letter, which was also sent to the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Banking Committee. “Interests as diverse as convenience stores, community banks, credit unions, casinos and gas stations have expressed their strong support for the bill’s passage,” wrote Bachus. “In fact, there is no meaningful opposition to the bill.”
“I urge you to allow it to come up for a vote before the Senate recesses for the election,” he asked.
