The National ATM Council recently reported that its “Congressional Champions,” Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri and Rep. John Rose of Tennessee, have been addressing ATM bank account blacklisting problems.
Last week during a House Financial Service Committee oversight hearing on the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Luetkemeyer “pointedly questioned FinCEN’s acting director Him Das about our issue,” NAC said. The response was that FinCEN is currently working with the bank regulatory agencies to issue a joint communication that will “clarify the regulatory agencies’ view that independent ATM operators do not represent a ‘high risk’ of money laundering.”
“This statement tracks recent changes made to the FFIEC Exam Manual after years of advocacy by NAC and corrects the manual’s prior mischaracterizations of our industry,” the association said. NAC shared the video, which you can watch here (Luetkemeyer speaks at around the 50-minute mark and Rose at the 2-hour, 25-minute mark).
NAC asks that operators continue to keep them informed about any bank account closures or new account denials experienced in the field (email [email protected]).