A House Financial Services Committee is scheduled Wednesday to mark up H.R. 4367, the bill that would repeal the ATM placard requirement on fee disclosures under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, which has spurred frivolous lawsuits against credit unions.
If cleared by the committee, the bill would proceed next to the House floor for action.
In a letter Monday to panel Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and Ranking Member Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Dan Berger, NAFCU executive vice president of government affairs, said the placard requirement may have had its use when it was first implemented in the 1990s, but there is no need for it today.
ATM users can review on screen any fee about to be assessed, and have the opportunity to cancel their transactions, he said.
Under current law, an ATM owner is open to possible class action lawsuits if a placard has been removed or vandalized; damage awards can go as high as $500,000 plus attorneys' fees and costs.
“This statutorily prescribed bounty has created a strong incentive for spurious lawsuits,” Berger said.
H.R. 4367, introduced by Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) and David Scott (D-Ga.), has 127 cosponsors. A similar Senate measure, S. 3204, has 17 cosponsors.
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