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Carolina banks sued for not displaying ATM fee stickers

June 6, 2011

A Michigan woman has filed federal lawsuits against two Carolina banks for not displaying federally mandated surcharge fee stickers on their ATM cabinets. And the president of a third bank said his financial institution also has been sued for the same reason.

Nancy Kinder, a resident of Livingston County, Mich., sued First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston, S.C., and First Bank of Troy, N.C., on May 31, according to court documents. Kinder filed the lawsuit against First Bank in the Florence Division of the U.S. District Court of South Carolina. She sued First Federal Savings in the Charleston division of the U.S. District Court of South Carolina.

In both instances, Kinder said she withdrew cash from the banks' ATMs, and the banks charged her surcharge fees, although the financial institutions did not post a notice "on or at" the ATM operated by the defendants apprising  consumers that a fee would be charged for use of the ATM, court documents said.

The lawsuit alleges that First Federal Savings & Loan charged her a $1 surcharge fee "in connection with the transaction." First Bank charged Kinder a $3 surcharge fee to withdraw funds, according to the lawsuit.

Jeffrey Clark, president of Southern Community Bank and Trust in Winston-Salem, N.C., said his bank also has received a summons regarding not posting surcharge fee notices on their ATMs. Clark said he did not want to discuss the lawsuit at this time. Court documents were not immediately available.

In the case of First Federal Savings and First Bank, Kinder alleges that the financial institutions violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which Congress passed in 1978 to establish consumer rights and liabilities. The legislation requires banks to display surcharge fee on the ATM screens and on the machines' cabinets.

Last February, during the ATMIAconference, Jack Milford Ford, a Portland, Ore.-based attorney, said that over the past two years sticker lawsuits have been filed in 16 states in federal court.

The pleadings are almost all identical, and the plaintiffs' lawyers have moved for a class-action status. Ford encouraged ATM owners and operators to take an inventory of all their ATMs to make sure they are in compliance with on-machine fee notice and on-screen fee notice.

"If any are not, immediately initiate action to bring those that are not in compliance ASAP and document all such steps," Ford wrote in a paper titled, "Sticker Shock-ATM Surcharge Notice Litigation Compliance Plan To Minimize Exposure." Ford's work is available free to members on ATMIA's website.

In her lawsuits, Kinder is seeking a jury trial, and she wants judges in both cases to certify both lawsuits as class action.

This is not the first time financial institutions have come in contact with Kinder. She and her partner, Ray Harrison, drive around the country filing lawsuits against banks and credit unions that do not display the surcharge fee sticker on their ATMs.

Kinder is represented by attorneys in Columbia, S.C., and Washington, D.C.

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ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)

The ATM Industry Association, founded in 1997, is a global non-profit trade association with over 10,500 members in 65 countries. The membership base covers the full range of this worldwide industry comprising over 2.2 million installed ATMs.

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