2 Banks Still Bar Non-Clients From ATMs

Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank said they will continue to bar non-customers from their automated-teller machines in Santa Monica because they do not believe an injunction adequately protects them from potential lawsuits based on a city ordinance. Last month, the two California banks shut off service for non-customers at 31 ATMs in Santa Monica after the city approved a law that prohibits banks from levying ATM surcharges. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued a preliminary injunction that prevented the city from enforcing the law, but the banks are still worried about a provision that permits private citizens to sue under the law, according to Greg Wilhelm, lobbyist for the California Bankers Assn., a trade group. The banks had hoped the judge would take steps to prevent individual lawsuits by ordering Santa Monica to modify or rescind its law, which took effect Nov. 11. But the judge declined. As a result, it remains unclear whether private citizens could file their own suits. The legal problem does not affect a similar ATM law in San Francisco because that ordinance--approved by voters--had not yet been enacted when the judge issued the preliminary injunction.