Cardtronics Threatened with Big Fine for Inaccessible ATMs

Cardtronics (CATM), the largest independent operator of ATMs, faces a large fine for failing to make its machines accessible to the blind as required by a class-action settlement.

The settlement, with the National Federal for the Blind and the state of Massachusetts in 2007, gave Cardtronics three years to install features in its ATMs that enable blind customers to plug headphones into an audio jack and hear instructions on how to use the machine.

The settlement required Cardtronics to ensure that at least 90% of transactions at its 45,000 ATMs nationwide had voice guides by March 31, 2011.

In December 2011, U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in Boston gave the company until March 2012 to comply after finding that only 65% of transactions on Cardtronics ATMs in Massachusetts and 51% nationwide took place on voice-guided machines.

On Thursday Gorton found that Cardtronics still had not finished. "Having conceded their failure to meet at least some of the requirements imposed by the [settlement], the defendants' violation is clear and they must be prepared to face the consequences," Gorton wrote in an order. It requires Cardtronics to report for at least another year on its progress and appoints a special master to ensure its compliance.

Gorton also said he would impose a financial penalty on Cardtronics; its size would be determined at a hearing scheduled for April. Plaintiffs had asked the court to fine Cardtronics $50 per ATM for each month it lacked features required by the court's order, which was first reported by Reuters.

Nick Pappathopoulos, a spokesman for Cardtronics, said in an emailed statement that the company "has overcome some technical and operational hurdles that have been more challenging than originally anticipated," and has "bona fide contractual disagreements" with the other parties to the settlement. He added that "save and except for sporadic maintenance issues on random ATMs," Cardtronics operates more than 43,000 nationwide that meet the accessibility requirement.

Jillian Fennimore, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, declined to comment.

Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National Federation for the Blind, said in an email the group is pleased with the ruling.

The lawsuit, filed in 2003, charged E-Trade Financial with failing to make its ATMs accessible to the blind in violation of federal and state law. Cardtronics, which operates roughly 61,000 ATMs worldwide, became the sole defendant in the lawsuit after agreeing in 2004 to buy E-Trade's ATM network.

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