Class Action Alleges 7-Eleven ATM Supplier FCTI Doubles Balance Inquiry Charges

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims 7-Eleven ATM supplier FCTI, Inc. has unlawfully doubled the number of out-of-network balance inquiries made by a consumer—and thus increased the fees it receives for each inquiry—during a single transaction at its machines.

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The 19-page lawsuit says that in light of the fact that retail banks pay FCTI a roughly $0.25 “interchange fee” each time an accountholder makes a balance inquiry at one of its machines, the defendant has “concoct[ed] a scheme” whereby its ATM interface will deceptively register two balance inquiries during a single transaction. This causes a consumer to be assessed two out-of-network fees by their home bank, thus doubling the interchange fees paid to FCTI, the case says.

As the suit tells it, an FCTI machine, like most ATMs, is designed to first ask if the consumer would like to check their account balance. If the person presses “yes,” the defendant sends a balance inquiry request to their home bank to retrieve and display the information on the machine, the complaint says. This process triggers an out-of-network charge by the bank to the consumer’s account and is standard procedure for most ATM operators, the case relays.

However, the complaint alleges that after the user has received and paid for details of their account balance once, an FCTI machine will display a second prompt that reads, “Would you like to print your Balance and continue the Transaction?” According to the filing, selecting the “Continue” button at this juncture is “the only way for customers to proceed directly to the intended cash withdrawal,” and doing so “automatically triggers” a second out-of-network fee by the home bank—and thus a second interchange fee payment to FCTI.

This “deceptive and unlawful” practice is designed to “generate as many balance inquires as possible” as FCTI receives a fraction of each fee charged to consumers by their banks, the lawsuit contends.

“[No] consumer in his right mind would undertake two balance inquiries on a single ATM use,” the suit says. “It would be nonsensical to do so.”

The plaintiff, a San Diego resident, used an FCTI machine at a 7-Eleven to make a cash withdrawal in November 2019, the case describes. Per the complaint, the ATM immediately asked the woman if she wanted to view her account balance, for which she pressed “yes” and was presented with the details, and the next screen inquired if she would like to print the balance and continue the transaction. Confused, the plaintiff selected “continue” and a receipt was printed, and the transaction was “abruptly ended,” the filing explains.

After reentering her PIN and finally reaching the main menu, the plaintiff was able to complete the withdrawal, the lawsuit states. However, the woman later discovered that she had been charged two separate $2.50 fees from her bank for making multiple balance inquiry requests at the FCTI ATM, the suit claims.

The lawsuit looks to represent all holders of a checking account who were assessed more than one fee for a balance inquiry request during the same visit to an FCTI ATM in the United States—excluding New York—within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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