Momentum is Building for the ATM Crime Bill − Ask Congress to Act

We have never been closer to passing federal ATM crime legislation. Now is the time for the ATM industry to ask Congress to act.

A few months ago, thieves broken into an ATM I use regularly.

It was a bank-owned island drive-up ATM in a busy parking lot next to Walmart. Nearly every time I used it, I had to wait. Cars routinely lined up because the closest Wells Fargo branch is 20 minutes away.

Three months later, it still hasn't been replaced.

That is what ATM crime looks like to consumers. They do not see the financial loss for an operator. They simply see one less place to access cash.

Through my work in the ATM industry, I regularly hear how serious ATM crime has become. More machines are being jackpotted, stolen, pulled from buildings and compromised in other ways.

Consumers don't know it, but the losses extend far beyond the cash inside the ATM. They include property damage, business interruption, insurance and security costs, and lost revenue. Consumers, merchants, operators, technicians and cash-in-transit personnel are also being placed in danger more frequently.

Some independent ATM deployers are now questioning whether they can continue serving higher-risk, lower-income neighborhoods.

The Communities That Rely Most on Cash Have the Most to Lose

The less someone earns, the more likely that person is to rely on cash − and the more damaging it becomes when a neighborhood ATM disappears.

Federal Reserve research found that consumers in households earning less than $25,000 annually used cash for 24% of their payments. By comparison, consumers in households earning more than $150,000 used cash for only 9% of their payments.

ATMs in low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods handled 38% more transactions per machine than ATMs in affluent areas, according to research from NCR Atleos.

If crime causes ATM operators and merchants to stop serving certain neighborhoods, the communities that rely most heavily on cash will be the first to lose convenient access.

ATM Crime Has Become More Organized and Sophisticated

In 2025, there were an estimated 700 ATM jackpotting incidents, resulting in more than $20 million in losses, according to the FBI. Federal investigators report that these operations increasingly involve sophisticated and organized criminal groups, including participants from foreign jurisdictions.

Yet federal law does not provide the same protection for standalone and off-premise ATMs that it provides for machines on bank property.

The ATM may provide the same service, contain the same cash and carry the same bank or credit union branding. But its physical location can determine whether federal law applies.

That distinction has never made sense to me.

Congress Has Closed This Kind of Gap Before

During the early 1930s, criminal gangs robbed banks and escaped across state lines, often outrunning local law enforcement.

In 1934, Congress passed the Federal Bank Robbery Act, making bank robbery a federal crime and giving the FBI authority to investigate. Passage of the Act was followed by a more than 70% decline in bank robberies nationwide over the next 12 months.

The cash has moved beyond bank branches, but the law has not moved with it. Congress now has an opportunity to close that gap.

The Safe Access to Cash Act Has Momentum

The bipartisan Safe Access to Cash Act would extend federal protections to network-connected ATMs regardless of whether they are located on bank property.

Sponsored by Senators Ted Cruz and Ruben Gallego, the bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It has broad support across the ATM, banking, retail and cash-management industries. Recently, a bipartisan coalition of 15 state attorneys general urged Congress to pass it.

Industry associations have spent years building awareness and support. The challenge now is turning that support into passage.

I Have Personally Watched the Conversation Change

Over the past four years, I have helped prepare and lead ATM industry advocacy visits to Washington and watched the conversation surrounding this legislation change.

During our earlier visits, we spent much of our time explaining the problem and the gap in federal law. Congressional offices generally agreed that legislation was needed.

During our most recent visit, the conversation had changed. Congressional offices understood the issue and knew where the legislation stood.

The question was no longer why the legislation was needed, but:

How do we get it passed?

I left Washington encouraged by our conversations with members of Congress and their staffs. There is awareness, bipartisan support and a credible opportunity to move the legislation forward.

But encouragement is not passage.

Association Staff Cannot Do It Alone

Industry associations and their government-affairs teams have worked tirelessly to educate policymakers, build coalitions and move this legislation forward. But association staff cannot be the only voices lawmakers hear.

They need to hear from ATM deployers, financial institutions, manufacturers, processors, suppliers and others who see the effects of ATM crime firsthand.

Contact your senators and representatives. Ask them to support and advance the Safe Access to Cash Act, and tell them how ATM crime has affected your business, employees, customers or community.

The ATM near my home is still gone. Every day it remains missing, people who depended on it must drive farther to access their own money.

Multiply that one missing ATM across communities nationwide − particularly those already underserved by traditional financial institutions − and the stakes become clear.

We have bipartisan support, growing awareness and momentum. Now our industry needs to speak up and help finish the job.