H.R. 1631: Safe Access to Cash Act of 2025

This bill specifies that robbery offenses involving ATMs and related cash constitute crimes under the federal bank robbery statute.

Currently, the federal bank robbery statute makes it a federal crime to take or attempt to take, by force and violence or by intimidation, money or other property belonging to or in the care, custody, control, management, or possession of any bank, credit union, or savings and loan association.

However, federal circuit courts have split on whether forcing someone to withdraw money from an ATM constitutes an offense under the federal bank robbery statute. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that directly forcing a bank customer to withdraw money from an ATM does not constitute a federal bank robbery because the funds were in the possession of the customer, not the bank. In contrast, the Tenth and Seventh Circuits have held that directly forcing a bank customer to withdraw money from an ATM constitutes a federal bank robbery because the funds belonged to the bank when the withdrawal occurred.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.