News

Wisconsin Senate defeats anti-surcharge bill

February 27, 2002

MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin state Senate on Feb. 8 narrowly rejected a bill to ban ATM surcharges. The vote was 17-16, according to the Associated Press.

Opponents said the bill could have forced banks to remove their ATMs or restrict their use to customers if they were not allowed to charge for the service.

"If you don't allow people to charge to sell a service, one of two things will happen: They will close down or restrict their service," said state Sen. Robert Welch, a Republican who voted against the measure.

But the bill's sponsor, Democrat Judy Robson, said, "We should stand for customers and stop this abuse. We need to stop them from double dipping."

The bill would have banned state- or federally chartered banks from imposing the fees on non-customers. The banks still could have charged their own customers.

According to legislative analysts, state-chartered banks with a large number of ATMs could seek to convert to a national charter to avoid having to comply with the bill, which would reduce the amount of money the state receives in the form of annual assessment and examination fees.