Committee advances Huntington ATM lease to place machines at precincts and detention center

The Budget, Finance and Audit committee voted to send forward for formal consideration a proposed lease with Huntington National Bank to install automated teller machines at 10 police precincts and the Detroit Detention Center.

Treasury and procurement staff told the committee Huntington agreed to take over the ATM lease after prior banks and that the new machines will add deposit capability in addition to cash withdrawals. Lou Barr, the police treasurer, explained Huntington surveyed the sites and that the revised lease expands coverage to 11 locations overall (10 precincts plus the detention center), noting one precinct named in the prior contract never had a machine because of limited lobby space.

Valerie Agoli described a contract provision for "foreign transactions" that the presentation records as a 50-cent per-transaction fee for certain foreign transactions above a threshold; staff said Huntington will waive fees for Huntington account holders and First Independence Bank cardholders but will apply the fee to other banks’ cardholders under the contract language.

Staff said deployment will occur within a 150-day window after Comerica’s machines are removed and that the bank had been hesitant because of initial deployment costs and ongoing maintenance but ultimately agreed to assume the lease. A committee suggestion to attach a waiver was noted; the chair said waivers are handled by the full council.

A motion to send line item 7.3 to formal with a recommendation to approve passed with no objections.

Next steps include formal council consideration and, if approved, a vendor-led deployment schedule for the machines.