News

Massachusetts stirs controversy with ATM safety bill

April 21, 2014

Massachusetts State Senator Brian A. Joyce has submitted a bill that would require all outdoor or enclosed ATMs to have safety features that would allow the user to summon police in case of an emergency. The state's FIs and IADs strongly oppose the measure. 

The bill would require banks to install "adequate" lighting, surveillance cameras, a rear-view mirror and blind-spot mirrors, entry doors with locking devices, and a sign stating that the area is under surveillance. Parking would be prohibited within a 20-foot radius of the machine.

One of the more unpopular provisions of the bill would require banks install an emergency telephone connected to 911 at every outdoor or enclosed ATM.

"If the law passes in Massachusetts, there will be many unintended consequences for citizens and local police,” Todd McEwan, president of New England ATM LLC, told Go Local Worcester. He said that accidental or mischief calls to the 911 number could add as many as 500 police calls per day across the state.

The Massachusetts Bankers Association also said that the law would be ineffective, and pointed out that it only included banks and not IADs.

Joyce has submitted several ATM safety bills during his 15-year tenure in the state senate. One bill proposed a "reverse PIN"-activated emergency call, which the industry deems costly, ineffective and unfeasible, due to the additional requirements it would impose on networks.