Cardtronics to pay $1.5M to Massachusetts

BOSTON – Cardtronics Inc., the world’s largest owner and operator of retail ATMs, last month agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve claims that it failed to comply with a previous court-approved settlement to make many of the company’s machines in Massachusetts accessible to blind and visually impaired users, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced.
The agreement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, was reached by Coakley’s office and the National Federation of the Blind. It is still subject to court approval. The settlement will resolve pending civil contempt charges filed in 2011 and 2012 against Cardtronics, and requires the company to adopt industry-leading accessibility features at its approximately 95,000 ATMs nationwide.
According to the terms of the agreement, Cardtronics must make all of its ATMs nationwide accessible through a combination of Braille markers and advanced voice-guidance technology, or ultimately divest itself of noncompliant ATMs.
Among other things, the agreement requires that voice-guidance technology guide users through each and every step of an ATM transaction. Each ATM is also required to have braille markers instructing users on initiating the voice-guidance technology and separately identifying the key locations on the machines, such as the headphone jack and cash dispenser. •