Bruce Renard introduces Congressman Scott Fitzgerald at NAC 2025.
NAC 2025: Legislative update
U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, a Wisconsin Republican, offered an update on some of the federal legislation designed to help ATM operators at the recent NAC 2025 expo in Las Vegas. During his keynote presentation at Caesars Palace, Fitzgerald, who serves on the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services and Judiciary Committee, discussed the Safe Access to Cash Act and the Fair Access to Banking Act. Feature image – Bruce Renard, NAC executive director, introduces Congressman Scott Fitzgerald.
The Safe Access to Cash Act establishes a federal statute that governs robbery offenses involving ATMs and related content. Under this bill, an ATM violation is subject to the same criminal penalties as an offense under the federal bank robbery statute, which carries a statutory maximum prison term of 20 years or 25 years, if the offense includes assault or use of a dangerous weapon, according to congress.gov.
The act clarifies that ATMs are in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of, any bank, credit union, or any savings and loan association regardless of whether the ATM is located on the physical premises of such an institution
“The Safe Access to Cash Act is about protecting consumers’ ability to safely access their money and it provides additional protection to the private businesses that help make this possible in communities across the United States,” Fitzgerald said.
ATM crime on the rise
Fitzgerald said the bill is important considering there has been an increase in crimes against ATMs, be it theft, robbery or on-site assaults.
“Overall ATM crimes are up 600%,” he said. “And all you have to do is be on social media to see some of these crimes actually happening.”
Law enforcement is not always responsive to these crimes, which sets a wrong message. Fitzgerald said he has advised his fellow Congressmen that when an ATM is vandalized, it’s not just the machine that is lost.
“The small business owner pays the price, the community loses quick access to the cash, communities with minimal access to cash are affected the most because it relies heavily on financial transactions and access to cash,” he said.
Fair access to banking services
The Fair Access to Banking Act prohibits financial service providers from denying fair access to financial services, according to congress.gov.
The FBI reported that 60% of all ATMs in the U.S. are independently owned and largely serve smaller population communities.
“Some of these communities can be between an hour and an hour and a half apart, and as a result because of that, there’s some real challenges when it comes to retail…you guys fill that gap that exists.”
An FBI report found that independent ATMs serve a majority of lower income people. In the absence of these ATMs, rural America would be financially underserved.
A bipartisan approach is important to passing this bill, he said.
“The bill is bipartisan, and I think that also carries a lot of weight when it comes to leadership, because when you’re looking at an issue it changes the dynamics of it if it’s classified as bipartisan.” One reason for this bipartisan support is the bill protects both consumers and small businesses.
One area Fitzgerald has encountered in educating members of Congress is they do not fully understand the difference between the bank ATM and independent ATMs.
ATM operators called on to support legislation
The Safe Access to Cash Act is in a great position to move in the current Congress, Fitzgerald said. He encouraged his listeners to email their congressional representatives to support the measure.
“Never underestimate the power of an email to a member of Congress,” he said. “If there’s a specific issue that stands out compared to all of the other communications that you get, and if you have the ability to reach out to that member and say ‘Hey, I’d love you to support this bill, I’d love you to get on this bill,’ that’s a big deal.
“That is a really big deal for a member of Congress to hear somebody involved in that issue that has the facts and has the details, and the Washington D.C. visits are essential and critical, going from office to office, and I appreciate the time and the effort that’s put into that, but don’t underestimate that one contact that you could make to your member of Congress to get their attention.”
“I think we’re in a great place to get this scheduled for a ‘mark up’ before the end of the year,” he said in response to a question about how long it will take to get the bill to get through Congress.
Bruce Renard, executive director of NAC, encouraged the audience to email their representatives, and noted that there is a donation page for Fitzgerald on the NAC website.
Support from banks questioned
One questioner asked Fitzgerald how the bill will impact banks’ willingness to bank an ATM operator.
Fitzgerald answered that the Trump Administration has reversed the prior administration’s push for more financial regulation under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an independent federal agency that supervises banks, lenders and large non-bank entities, such as credit reporting agencies and debt collection companies.
“What you have seen is they have completely pulled the rug off from under the CFPB, and what we are pushing for now is a different structure that would allow for regulation and across the board, and instead of doing this consumer protection angle, actually starting to police the financial institutions is a way where they’re participants,” he said. “So instead of sending somebody in there that’s a regulator, saying show me this, this, this and this, that there would be more of a give and take.”
ATM challenges continue
The questioner said the current immigration problems have hurt his area, which he blamed on the current administration. As a result, he said transactions on the West Coast are 30% to 40% down.
To this point, Renard previously noted that ATM operators have noted that actions against immigrants have undermined their willingness to use ATMs, which has resulted in lower ATM transactions.
Fitzgerald acknowledged that the immigration issue is having an effect on many industries and said he understands the frustration.
The questioner further said Trump’s tariffs have resulted in higher ATM related costs.
Fitzgerald nevertheless insisted that regulatory progress has been made under the current administration. He said under the prior administration, the government’s manual governing banks said “private ATM operators” have a high risk of money laundering and fraud.
“We have tried so hard to get this addressed, and ultimately, after years of work…we got that language completely removed,” Fitzgerald said. “Now the manual says independent ATM operators are providing a good valuable service in providing cash access to consumers that otherwise would not have it. It completely changed.”
To this point, Renard pointed out that there was a bank on the trade show floor serving ATM operators.
“We’ve made some progress,” Renard said. “This is the first time we have bills in Congress to help us.” He further said there is a law in Florida that prohibits denying banking services to an entire business sector.
One NAC member has successfully sued Bank of America in small claims court for denying services and got his bank account reinstated, he said.
