on FinCEN to Restore ATM Banking Access
This past Thursday was a great day for NAC and our industry – with the ATM bank account blacklisting problems receiving attention during the recent House Financial Service Committee’s oversight hearing on the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). To see our Congressional Champions in action on your behalf, please click the link below to watch the video replay of the hearing. With your cursor at the bottom of the video screen…move the arrow over to the 50-Minute mark in the video to watch Mr. Luetkemeyer, and then over to the 2-hour 25-minute mark for Mr. Rose’s follow-upcomments. You Tube Video of Financial Services Committee Oversight Hearing – FinCEN: https://youtu.be/cvrVpvEzJeA
At the hearing, Congressman Luetkemeyer pointedly questioned FinCEN’s Acting Director Him Das about our issue – and was rewarded with confirmation on the record that FinCEN is currently working with the bank regulatory agencies to issue a joint communication. This joint statement to the financial services industry 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. This is precisely what NAC has been working toward in our extensive efforts leading up to the FFIEC Exam Manual corrections and ever since the revisions to the Manual were released this past December. We were thrilled to learn at last week’s hearing that such a pronouncement of the "bankability" of Independent ATM Operators appears to be on its way! It's fantastic to see NAC's advocacy efforts bearing fruit here, and we sincerely appreciate Congressmen Luetkemeyer's and Rose’s diligent work on this issue of paramount importance to ATM Nation.
Since the Exam Manual provisions were corrected, we have been working with Mr. Rose's and Mr. Luetkemeyer’s offices to make sure the changes filter all the way down to the bank examiners and risk managers who control your access to banking services. While our bank account access challenges are not yet fully resolved, last week's hearing -- along with recent written communications from the bank regulators -- signal a much better path forward. Please continue to inform NAC (email: bruce@natmc.org) about any bank account closures/new account denials you experience in the field, so we can keep our CongressionalChampions apprised and they can keep the pressure on.
Also, as always, if you need NAC’s assistance/documentation to help deal with a specific bank account closure, denial, or other issue – please don’t hesitate to reach out – we are here to help and support you.
Thank You for your attention and for the continued loyal support of NAC – YOUR US ATM/BTM Industry Trade Association!
Respectfully Yours, Bruce