Please confirm - does the October rule change make offering cash advance services truly optional? The rule change summary states that the change makes the manual cash disbursement service optional , except for domestic VISA Prepaid Card Transactions. We're one of those banks where management would like to pull the terminals, but in the past I understood that we were required to offer the service since we offer VISA branded debit cards. Below is the rule language. Where does the "authorization" factor come into play? Would we still be required to process prepaid card transactions? Thank you.

Effective 15 October 2014
If a Member makes Manual Cash Disbursements to other Issuers' Cardholders, it must do so in a uniform manner for all Visa products properly presented.
In the Canada Region and US Region, a Member authorized to make Cash Disbursements must make Manual Cash Disbursements to other Issuers' Visa Prepaid Cardholders at all of its Branches.

As long as you have the terminal, you must perform cash advances for pre-paid access cards. However, this change does give you the right to elect to stop offering cash advances altogether.

An additional note as this question has come up many, many times on BOL. another change that is coming from VISA involves the ability to charge an access fee for performing cash advances. (Note if you elect to charge for this the charge must be the same for customers and non-customers.)

Effective 15 October 2014
An Acquirer must not impose an Access Fee on a domestic Manual Cash Disbursement unless applicable laws or regulations expressly require that the Acquirer be permitted to assess an
Access Fee.
This does not apply: In the AP Region, to Acquirers in Australia and Thailand
In the Canada Region
In the LAC Region, to Acquirers in Puerto Rico
In the US Region

Effective 15 April 2015
If an Acquirer assesses an Access Fee on a Manual Cash Disbursement, it must do all of the following:
Disclose to the Cardholder the Access Fee before it is assessed and provide the Cardholder
the opportunity to cancel the Manual Cash Disbursement
Assess the Access Fee as a fixed and flat fee
Assess the same Access Fee on all Visa products, regardless of Issuer
Not assess an Access Fee on a Manual Cash Disbursement conducted with a Card issued in
the Visa Europe Territory (unless applicable laws and regulations expressly require that the
Acquirer be permitted to assess an Access Fee)
In the Canada Region and US Region, not assess an Access Fee on a Manual Cash
Disbursement conducted with a domestic Visa Prepaid Card
Include the Cash Disbursement and Access Fee amounts in the same Clearing

This is a huge change. I envision the machines being returned by the carload. Any idea why this about face, Brian?

Also, any rumblings about MasterCard following suit?

I can only imagine that the access fee is related to the class-action settlement that allows merchants to begin charging surcharges. As for the cash advance requirement going away, this thread was the first I had heard of it. I had to look up the Operating Rules.

I haven't heard anything from MasterCard, yet.

Yes, I'm sure the fee is from the suit. Perhaps banks will offe for a fee but I will not be surprised if many dump the product. We shall see.

I'm sorry, but I'm a little thick headed. I apologize for resurrecting this post, but why would machines be returned by the carloads? Isn't it a plus that banks could begin assessing a fee for these transactions or not offer manual cash disbursements?

Apparently you would still not be able to assess a fee for manual cash advances from a Visa Prepaid Card.

Correct, so tax refund cards, state aid disbursement cards, unemployment cards, payroll cards, social security cards, etc. still would have a fee prohibition.

And frankly, those are the types of cash advance transactions that banks are most often complaining about, I think. The run-of-the-mill traveler away from home cash advance isn't usually a problem. And the fact that those prepaid debit cards are still exempt from a fee will continue to drive those cardholders away from the surcharging ATMs and toward the fee-free teller line.

If we offer Visa branded debit cards and have an ATM outside, Are we required to have a cash advance machine inside? We have battled this discussion several times and have been told "Yes" but there are several banks in out area that do not have a cash advance machine inside.

I think if you go back to the start of this thread, there's mention made that having cash advances on the teller line isn't required (but it has to be an "all or nothing" decision; you can't provide advances for some (your) cardholders and not for others (everyone else's).

Thanks

This is a very late addition to this thread, but we have recently had something come up regarding this topic. We received a complaint from VISA that someone tried to get a cash advance (manual cash disbursement) from a prepaid card and was denied because of the card type. We discontinued this service at the first of the year, so the card type had nothing to do with it. We just no longer perform cash advances for anyone. When I called the VISA rep that was on the complaint form, I was told that the October 2014 change only gave us the ability to discontinue that service for actual credit card transactions, but we were still obligated to perform cash advances on prepaid cards, because we are an issuer of VISA debit cards.

Brian, you had mentioned in the post that:

As long as you have the terminal, you must perform cash advances for pre-paid access cards. However, this change does give you the right to elect to stop offering cash advances altogether.

John, you had this to say:

I think if you go back to the start of this thread, there's mention made that having cash advances on the teller line isn't required (but it has to be an "all or nothing" decision; you can't provide advances for some (your) cardholders and not for others (everyone else's).

That is the way I interpret this as well, but am being told otherwise by VISA. There are many conditional statements in the changes which is indicative of being optional. Can anyone provide me further information about this? Thanks in advance.

All John and I can go off of is what we read in VISA's published materials. Your contract with VISA is the ultimate governing document so at this point I would refer you to bank counsel to settle what is or is not required of you.