The Credit Union Association of New York said this week that bills that would eliminate ATM fee disclosure regulations have advanced in the state Senate and Assembly, bringing the proposed legislation a step closer to passage.

The bills, New York Assembly Bill 6234 and New York Senate Bill 4363, would drop the requirement of physical fee disclosures on ATMs and bring state law into conformity with federal law.

Current law requires ATM operators to display notices in two separate locations, both physically on the ATM and with an electronic notification on the screen, informing consumers that they might be charged fees for withdrawing cash from the ATM.

However, in some cases, vandals have removed the physical disclosure, followed by lawsuits against the financial institutions for noncompliance. To protect themselves from lawsuits, credit unions have had to spend time and money documenting their compliance and fighting frivolous lawsuits, according to CUANY.

President Barack Obama signed a similar bill into federal law in December. Nebraska also has passed a state law eliminating the physical disclosure requirement.