Bank One, Utah v. Guttau

Prior to 1996, automated teller machines (ATMs) were considered branch banks under the National Bank Act and subject to state restrictions. In 1996, Congress amended the National Bank Act to exclude ATMs from classification as branch banks. Congress intended to foreclose states from imposing prior-approval requirements and geographic restrictions on national-bank ATMs. At some point, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the comptroller) provided an interpretation of the 1996 amendment, which concluded that the Iowa ATM regulations were preempted by the National Bank Act. Bank One, Utah, N.A. (Bank One) (plaintiff) was a national bank. In 1997, Bank One installed dozens of ATMs at retail stores in Iowa, including 11 at various Sears locations. The Iowa Superintendent of Banking, Michael Guttau (the superintendent) (defendant) ordered that Sears stop the operation of Bank One’s ATMs because their operation violated the Iowa Electronic Funds Transfer Act (the transfer act). Ultimately, Bank One removed all of its ATMs from the Sears stores. Bank One sued the superintendent, seeking a declaration that the Iowa transfer act was preempted by the National Bank Act and seeking an injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the transfer act. The district court denied Bank One’s motion for a preliminary injunction, finding that the National Bank Act did not preempt the transfer act. Bank One appealed.