By : Neill Malcolm Harris
May 05, 2016 01:00 PM
Banks are subject to an ever-increasing net of regulations and the ATM
channel is not immune. Regulations can throw up unforeseen challenges
that impact not only business decisions, but also technology ones.
Technology considerations
For example, Kansas has sought to impose a daily ATM cash limit of $25
for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. ATMs only
dispense $20 bills, effectively capping the limit at the lower level.
Meanwhile, in Colorado retailers with ATMs on their premises are
required to block people using their Electronic Benefit Transfers (EBT)
cards at their ATMs if the establishment sells products, such as alcohol
and tobacco, that recipients are not allowed to buy with EBT benefits.
ADA - the Americans with Disabilities Act - is another big consideration in ATMs. Changes in 2010 to ADA
Guidelines require ATMs to be equipped with speech-enabled technology, headset jacks and other items so
visually impaired people can more easily use the machines.
Fees
Any discussion about regulating ATMs has to feature fees. Senator Tom Harkin fought unsuccessfully in 2010, as
part of the Dodd-Frank bank reforms, to cap ATM fees at 50 cents but the issue has not gone away.
Last year, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested ATM fees were “usurious”, voicing a popularly-held
belief that consumers may be charged too much for withdrawing cash. One of her rivals for the Democrat
nomination, Bernie Sanders, has long called for fees to be limited by law.
Any future regulation of fees could significantly impact decisions about deployment, and challenge current
operational assumptions.
Global issue
Regulations impacting the ATM, including debates about fees, are not confined to the US.
In the UK, changes to business rates - taxes levied on commercial properties - could hit retailers with thousands of
pounds in backdated tax payments. The body responsible, the Valuation Office Agency, ruled that an ATM built
into the front of a shop should incur a rates bill separate to that of the main business.
According to the Association of Convenience Stores, which represents thousands of small retailers, this will likely
result in both fewer ATMs located in shops and higher fees.
Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of Australia brought in so-called “direct charge” reforms in 2009 designed to curb
ATM fees (although in practice fees have actually risen).
The Reserve Bank of India limits customers in the largest cities to five free transactions a month on their own bank
network, or three on other ATM networks. The Central Bank of Nigeria ended a two-year ban on ATM fees last
September.
Whether the impact is positive or negative, such changes by regulators necessitate a rethink among deployers
operating in those markets.
Unforeseen challenges
David Tente of the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) notes that a growing number of US states have passed laws
that affect ATM operators. Meanwhile a number of bills under active consideration, if passed, could see operators
“in violation at some point without even knowing it”. The ATMIA runs a legislative monitoring service for the US.
As he points out, every additional state or nation in your ATM footprint means the potential for new rules and
regulations to be considered.