Credit unions are anticipating a House vote late Monday on HR 4367, a bill that would eliminate an ATM placard disclosure requirement that has spurred frivolous lawsuits against credit unions.

According to both CUNA and NAFCU, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced that per the congressional schedule, all votes will be postponed until after 6:30 Monday evening.

HR 4367 would amend the Electronic Funds Transfer Act to eliminate a requirement that ATM owners post placards on the machines that disclose fees. The EFTA also requires a fee disclosure on the ATM screen during the transaction, making the placard disclosure redundant.

The trades said individuals have removed the physical placard and sued ATM operators for noncompliance, subjecting ATM owners to fines of up to $500,000, plus lawyers' fees and expenses.

The threat of lawsuits has caused many credit unions to go to extraordinary steps to document compliance, increasing the cost of operating ATMs to the detriment of credit unions' member-owners, according to a July 9 letter from CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

“This legislation will protect credit unions and other ATM operators from frivolous lawsuits while at the same time maintaining important consumer protections.  HR 4367 is a common sense piece of legislation that will reduce regulatory burden without harming ATM users,” Cheney said in the letter. 

NAFCU President Fred Becker called on credit unions to contact their lawmakers over the July 4 week recess to urge action on the bill, which now has 145 cosponsors. A similar Senate bill is gaining support as well, NAFCU said.

The House Committee on Financial Services approved the bill unanimously June 27.