District Circular Letters

March 16, 2001

BANKING SUPERVISION AND REGULATION:
REGULATION E: ATM FEES DISCLOSURE

To State Member Banks, Bank
Holding Companies, U.S. Branches
and Agencies of Foreign Banks,
and Others Concerned,
In the Twelfth Federal Reserve District

Final Rule: Disclosure of ATM Fees (R-1077)

The Federal Reserve Board has announced a final rule amending Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfers) to implement provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), requiring disclosure of automated teller machine (ATM) fees. The GLBA amended the Electronic Fund Transfer Act by requiring disclosure of fees, sometimes referred to as "surcharges," that are imposed by ATM operators. Many ATM operators that impose such fees already disclose information about the fee to satisfy existing Regulation E and ATM interchange network requirements.

Under the GLBA amendments, an ATM operator that imposes a fee for an electronic fund transfer (EFT) service is required to provide notice of that fact in a prominent and conspicuous location on or at the ATM where the EFT is initiated. The ATM operator must disclose that a fee will be imposed as well as the amount of the fee, either on the screen of the ATM or on paper, before the consumer is committed to completing the transaction. In addition, when the consumer contracts for an EFT service, the financial institution holding the consumer’s account must provide initial disclosures, including a notice that a fee may be imposed by an ATM operator not holding the consumer’s account, or by any national, regional, or local network used to complete the transaction.

The revisions are effective immediately; compliance is mandatory as of October 1, 2001.

Copies

Copies of the Board's notice (Docket R-1077) are available from our Corporate Services Department. To request copies to be sent by mail, please call (415) 974-2060.

All circulars and documents are available on the Internet through the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Internet site, at http://www.frbsf.org/banking/letters/index.html.

Additional Information

For additional information about the disclosure of ATM fees, please contact our Banking Supervision and Regulation Department, at (415) 974-2967.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO