AMENDMENT TO REGULATION E REGARDING DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT FOR ATM FEES.

The Federal Reserve Board published on March 1, 2001, a final rule amending Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfers) to implement provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act requiring disclosure of automated teller machine (ATM) fees.

The GLB Act amended Regulation E by requiring disclosure of fees imposed by ATM operators (sometimes referred to as "surcharges"). 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 amendments to the GLB Act, an ATM operator that imposes a fee on a consumer 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. Before the consumer is committed to completing the transaction, the ATM operator must also disclose that a fee will be imposed, together with the amount of the fee, either on the ATM screen or on a paper notice. No fee may be imposed unless proper notice is provided and the consumer elects to complete 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.