Wisconsin legislators taking aim at ATM fees

MADISON, Wis. – State legislators in Wisconsin are hoping a different tack on barring ATM fees might bring them success where courts have quashed previous efforts in other states, according to a story in the American Banker. Where efforts to bar or reduce ATM fees in California, New Jersey and Iowa failed in the courts, the Wisconsin legislators aim to attack ATM fees using the state’s tax code. Under the legislators’ plan, Wisconsin would tax ATM fees by 100% and earmark the money for property tax relief, a highly popular political cause. There are questions about whether such a measure would pass regulatory review, according to the article and, if it passed, the measure would drive some ATM deployers from the field, according to Kurt Baur, lobbyist for the Wisconsin Bankers’ Association. “You will see the elimination of ATMs, particularly in remote locations,” Mr. Bauer told the paper. “They need the surcharge to recoup the cost of placing it there. Why would anybody, a financial institution or any entity, place an ATM in an airport? How is that pro-consumer? You’re taking choices and convenience away.”