FMI Wants Physical Placards off ATMs

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has lauded the advancement of legislation to update the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, bill H.R. 4367, which would abolish the fee-disclosure requirement on ATM posted placards and further eliminates gratuitous, unwarranted litigation and penalties incurred by supermarkets and other retailers when a placard is not visible or intact.

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee reported out the bill to the full House, where it passed 371-0 Monday night.

praised the effort in a statement, saying:

“The bipartisan, swift victory of this bill signifies how common sense it is to abolish the need for physical ATM placards,” said FMI SVP of government and political affairs Jennifer Hatcher. “With advancements in technology, and an ability to ensure that every customer is both notified electronically of possible fees and a choice to proceed with the transaction, the need for placards has become obsolete. Some FMI members own and operate their own ATMs, and H.R. 4367 simply updates the law to no longer require the physical placards on ATMs and reduce the incentive for would-be vandals to deface ATMs.

FMI staff and several member companies met with members of Congress and their staff to garner support for the bill over the past several weeks. With broad, bipartisan support, the bill is ready for Senate consideration. FMI signed onto a coalition letter in support of the bill in addition to sending one of its own.

“The grocery industry is extremely competitive and operates on a narrow margin, averaging 1 percent,” said Hatcher. “Updating the Electronic Funds Transfer Act to protect ATM operators from frivolous lawsuits will help supermarkets operating ATMs to continue to compete and offer competitive prices to the consumer. We look forward to the Senate’s timely and thoughtful consideration.”

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) conducts programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education and industry relations on behalf of its nearly 1,250 food retail and wholesale member companies in the United States and around the world. FMI’s U.S. members operate more than 25,000 retail food stores and almost 22,000 pharmacies with a combined annual sales volume of nearly $650 billion.