News

Amended ATM bill passes Calif. Assembly

May 25, 2004

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California Assembly on May 25 voted 68-0 in favor or a bill that would require ATMs not owned by banks to be registered with an established financial institution, giving consumers more protection from fraudulent ATMs.

According to an Associated Press report, Assembly Bill 1810, sponsored by Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles, now moves to the Senate.

Lana Harmelink, the ATM Industry Association's director of operations, said the ATMIA's Government Relations Committee worked with Frommer and other lawmakers, convincing them to amend the bill so that it essentially reinforces existing industry regulations that require independent operators to be sponsored into EFT networks by financial institutions.

The bill also specifies that civil penalties may be assessed against ATM operators or distributors that knowingly or recklessly provide false or misleading information to sponsor financial institutions.

In its orginal version, the bill would have required independent operators to be licensed and monitored by the California Department of Financial Institutions.

(See related stories Calif. lawmakers intro bill to regulate independent ATMs and Death, taxes...and ATM regulation?)