Current Events in March 2018

Walmart’s beta test of shelf-scanning robots have gone so well that the big box retailer is broadening the initiative to 50 stores in four states, according to Business Insider.

If efficiency and customer service are king, then this is a smart move for Walmart. The robots roam the store’s aisles scanning shelves for mislabeled items, incorrect prices, out-of-stock items, or anything a customer may have put back in the wrong place.

The robots aren’t taking anyone’s job, either. Rather, the intent is to give Walmart workers a break from doing grunt work so they can focus on helping customers.

"This has largely been about how we improve our performance and improve our service to our customers," said John Crecelius, Walmart's vice president of innovation. "[Walmart employees] are usually at the forefront for helping us identify things that improve our business that we hadn't thought of."

Efficient and polite

Standing six feet tall, the robots will be hard to miss, and their work ethic is pretty darn impressive. Inside of two minutes, it can scan 80 feet of aisle space without bumping into anyone or anything -- like a shopping cart or a new display that it hadn’t encountered before. It’s polite, too. If a robot detects a customer is coming down the aisle, it will wait for them to pass before it continues scanning.

Crecelius says neither customers or workers have been put off by the robots, but are just simply curious. "People are just drawn to technology and what it does," he said. "Our associates naturally get drawn to: 'What is this going to provide, how can I use this in what I'm doing?'"

In its expanded test, two of the items on Walmart’s to-do list are to determine the best use of the data the robots churn out and find out the best times to run the robots. Right now, the robots are running their routes three times a day -- once in the morning, once at midday, and once in the evening.

The machines are the brainchild of Bossa Nova, a U.S. company on a mission to “make large-scale stores run efficiently by automating the collection and analysis of on-shelf inventory data.”

The Conference Board's monthly survey shows consumer confidence declined in March, following a February increase.

The survey came out the same day CNBC released its own survey, showing Americans' economic optimism is the highest it has been since the recession ended a decade ago.

The two surveys use different methodology, but it's rare to find them moving in opposite directions. The Conference Board employs Nielsen to conduct its research, based on a probability designed random sample. It found consumers in the sample have less confidence in both the present economic condition and the future.

Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, notes that confidence reached an 18-year high in February and has retreated only slightly.

“Despite the modest retreat in confidence, index levels remain historically high and suggest further strong growth in the months ahead,” Franco said.

Tempering their enthusiasm

In fact, consumers aren't turning sour on the economy; they may  be tempering their enthusiasm. The percentage of consumers who say business conditions will improve over the next six months fell from 25.0 percent to 23.0 percent. Those expecting conditions will get worse increased from 9.4 percent to 9.8 percent.

In the CNBC survey, a little over 50 percent of Americans rated the current economy as good or excellent, the same as February. CNBC says that's the first time at least half the respondents gave the economy such high marks in back-to-back polls in the 11-year history of the survey.

At the same time, 38 percent of Americans said they expect the economy to improve even more next year, the second-highest number since the recession.

The CNBC poll also tracked consumers' feeling about the economy with President Trump's job approval numbers, suggesting the President isn't benefiting from a surge in economic optimism. In fact, it found Trump's approval for handling the economy dipped from 47 percent in December to 45 percent.

Also, the survey showed that just 32 percent of Americans reported having more take-home pay following last year's tax cut. More than half said they saw no change on their pay stubs, while 16 percent said they weren't sure.

If you were one of the fortunate investors who made a killing on Bitcoin in 2017, or maybe just earned a few bucks on a digital currency transaction, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reminding you to report it on your tax return.

The tax agency says a profit from a cryptocurrency transaction is no different than a capital gain on a stock or real estate transaction. Using a virtual currency to pay for goods and services can also have tax consequences, the IRS says.

The IRS outlines some of the issues a taxpayer must consider here. In some instances, the tax issues raised by cryptocurrencies can be somewhat complicated.

For example, a taxpayer who receives virtual currency as payment for goods or services must, in computing gross income, include the fair market value of the virtual currency, measured in U.S. dollars, as of the date that the virtual currency was received.

Big profits in 2017

The IRS reminder may have been prompted, in part, by the fact that some taxpayers who purchased Bitcoins early in 2017 and sold late in the year reaped enormous profits. At the start of 2017, one Bitcoin was worth less than $1,000. By mid-December it was worth almost $20,000.

The IRS says taxpayers who do not properly report the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency currency transactions can be subject to audit and be liable for penalties and interest. But should you neglect to report thousands of dollars in Bitcoin profits, things could get a lot stickier.

"Taxpayers could be subject to criminal prosecution for failing to properly report the income tax consequences of virtual currency transactions," the IRS warns. "Criminal charges could include tax evasion and filing a false tax return."

A tax evasion conviction could result in a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $250,000.

The Federal Trade Commission has confirmed it has opened an investigation into Facebook's privacy practices.

The announcement from Acting Director Tom Pahl said the agency responds when any company does not live up to its promises to protect privacy.

"Companies who have settled previous FTC actions must also comply with FTC order provisions imposing privacy and data security requirements," Pahl said in a statement.

"Accordingly, the FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook. Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices.”

Facebook once again in FTC crosshairs

Facebook has dealt with the FTC on privacy issues in the past. It signed a consent decree with the FTC in 2011 after a privacy issue arose. The agreement required Facebook to notify users and get permission before sharing personal data beyond the user's privacy settings.

Rob Sherman, deputy chief privacy officer for Facebook, released a statement saying the company appreciates the opportunity to answer any questions the FTC might have.

Facebook found itself at the center of a media firestorm over a week ago when it was revealed that an app developer who legally accessed Facebook user data, with user's permission, then sold the data to a political consulting firm, in violation of Facebook's terms of service.

New reports suggest that Facebook has been logging Android users’ call and SMS (text) history without their permission. The company says that’s not exactly the case, but text history logging is something the user can choose as an opt-in feature.

According to an Ars Technica report, a New Zealander was poring through an archive of his personal data that he had downloaded from Facebook. What he found was not only the typical photos, posts, and contacts, but nearly two years worth of data including names, phone numbers, and the length of each call he made from his Android phone.

After last week’s PR bloodbath, Facebook was quick to step up and clear its name the best it could.

“People have to expressly agree to use this feature,” the company said in their response to the story. “If, at any time, they no longer wish to use this feature they can turn it off in settings, or here for Facebook Lite users, and all previously shared call and text history shared via that app is deleted. While we receive certain permissions from Android, uploading this information has always been opt-in only.”

Contact importing is commonplace in social apps. FourSquare, Cloze, Brewster, and others all use some form of contact collection. Not wanting to be left out on a good idea, Facebook also introduced a version in their Messenger app in 2015, then followed up with a “lightweight version” of it in its Facebook for Android app.

How it works

Many people gloss over things like fine print, opt-ins, and opt-outs, and this latest development seems to fall under that category. The way Facebook has this option set up is that when a user signs up for or logs into Messenger or Facebook Lite on an Android device, they’re given the option to have a running upload of contacts as well as call and text history.

In the Messenger app, users can either turn it on or off, or click on the “learn more” or “not now” options. On the Facebook Lite app, the choices are to turn it on or select “skip.” For users who decide to turn the feature on, Facebook logs that info as it happens.

Curious Facebook users who do their social networking on an Android device can see what information has been gathered by using Facebook’s “Download Your Information” tool.

How you can change the info Facebook collects

If a user no longer wants their calls and texts tracked, all they have to do is turn the feature off in their settings. For added security, users can also go here to see which contacts they have uploaded from Messenger and delete any uploaded contact information they want to.

Given all that’s erupted out of Facebook’s data collection dust-up, it’s smart for users to double-check what information they’ve given Facebook and others access to.. The company offers a laundry list of ways to update a user’s settings and enhance the security of their data. In a few simple steps, users can decide what apps and games they want to grant permission to collect personal data.

The $1.3 trillion spending bill Congress passed last week has more money for the military and domestic programs, but what it doesn't have could send health insurance premiums sharply higher.

Bipartisan efforts to include funding for health insurers that provide policies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) failed when Republicans and Democrats couldn't agree. Without the money, health insurers are warning that premiums will surge during October's open enrollment period, just before the midterm elections.

Not surprisingly, Democrats and Republicans are blaming each other for the failure of the health insurance funding provision, authored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Me.) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).

'Last opportunity'

“Let me be crystal clear: our proposal is the last opportunity to prevent these rate increases, which will be announced on October 1st," Collins said in a speech on the Senate floor prior to the vote. "And our package will help to stabilize the insurance markets and make them more competitive. Every study has shown that our bills would make health insurance more affordable.”

Alexander singled out Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), saying she blocked the measure because of language restricting abortion. Because the measure failed, Alexander said the average premium would go up $8,000 over three years.

Murray agrees that partisan politics got in the way of the healthcare funding, but she says it's the GOP's fault. Murray said Republicans sabotaged the bill by inserting a provision they knew Democrats wouldn't support.

'Partisan bill'

"This partisan bill also pulled the most worn page out of the Republican ideological playbook: making extreme, political attacks on women’s health care," Murray said in a speech on the Senate floor. "This partisan bill would take huge steps beyond current law—making it so that women can’t even buy abortion coverage using their own money.”

Collins said the measure only included the traditional abortion funding language that she said had applied to appropriations bills since 1976, and that apply to all government health programs.

No matter where the blame lies, consumers who depend on ACA health insurance policies will pay the price later this year. Blue Cross Blue Shield predicts the resulting rate hikes could be as much as 10 percent.

Today, Twitter announced that it will be joining the likes of Facebook and Google in banning advertisements for initial coin offerings (ICO) and token sales.

The decision comes after weeks of speculation that the social media platform would begin blocking ads for cryptocurrency exchanges, initial coin offerings (ICO), cryptocurrency wallets, and crypto token sales.

“Advertisement of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and token sales will be prohibited globally,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement. “We know that this type of content is often associated with deception and fraud, both organic and paid, and are proactively implementing a number of signals to prevent these types of accounts from engaging with others in a deceptive manner.”

Discouraging fraud and deception

Tokens, wallets, and exchanges carry potential risks (such as scams, fraud, or other financial crimes) and tend to be volatile. Twitter says its new policies will help it ensure the safety of its users.

Going forward, cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet services ads will be limited to those that are provided by a public company listed on major stock markets.

Earlier this month, Google announced an update to its financial services policy that will restrict advertising for "cryptocurrencies and related content" starting this summer.

The new policies on cryptocurrency ads that have recently been adopted by major social media platforms have caused the value of the digital asset to decline rapidly. Bitcoin approached the $8,000 level today and has decreased in value dramatically since December when it hit an all-time high of $20,000.

Remington Outdoor Co, one of the oldest and largest gun and ammunition manufacturers in the country, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The gun maker has been dealing with a heavy debt load and slumping sales, as well as lawsuits from families of the victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. The company manufactures a variety of handguns, shotguns, and rifles, including the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle that was used in the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Remington has also been hit with lawsuits from individuals claiming some guns are defective; the company has voluntarily recalled some of its models.

The filing will allow the 200-year old company to reduce its debt by $700 million and contribute $145 million to its subsidiaries. Control of the company will be transferred to its creditors. The proceedings may be completed as soon as May 3, according to court papers.

Remington’s filing allows it to stay in business while restructuring its debt. The company said operations “will not be disrupted by the restructuring process” and added that it plans to continue paying its vendors and employees while under bankruptcy protection.

Activists call for gun control

The filing comes amid increased attention on the issue of gun control following the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In response, many companies and retailers have stepped up their efforts to restrict firearms sales.

Last week, Citigroup Inc. announced that it would require its retail-sector clients to sell firearms only to customers who passed background checks. Citi also said it would no longer sell high-capacity magazines or sell guns to those under 21 years old.

Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods have also changed their policy to prohibit gun sales to those under the age of 21. Orvis, an outdoor goods company, recently updated its gun sale policy to require that customers seeking to purchase a firearm either be 21 or show proof that they have taken a hunter education and safety course.

At the annual China Development Forum in Beijing on Saturday, Apple CEO Tim Cook called for stronger data privacy regulations to prevent “dire” situations like the leak of Facebook user information from happening again.

Last week, news surfaced that Facebook let Cambridge Analytica harvest data on 50 million users without their consent in an effort to target messages to voters during the 2016 presidential election.

To protect users’ data, Cook said tech companies need "well-crafted" data privacy regulations.

Change needed

“I think that this certain situation is so dire and has become so large that probably some well-crafted regulation is necessary,” Cook said. “The ability of anyone to know what you’ve been browsing about for years, who your contacts are, who their contacts are, things you like and dislike and every intimate detail of your life -- from my own point of view it shouldn’t exist.”

Cook said Apple has worried for years that something like the recent Facebook data leak might happen. "Unfortunately that prediction has come true more than once," he said.

“We’ve worried for a number of years that people in many countries were giving up data probably without knowing fully what they were doing and that these detailed profiles that were being built of them, that one day something would occur and people would be incredibly offended by what had been done without them being aware of it,” he said.

Curbing “platform power”

Cook isn’t the first to suggest that tech companies need to be better regulated. Earlier this month, internet creator Tim Berners-Lee commemorated the 29th birthday of the internet with an open letter. In the letter, he urged for more regulation of big tech platforms.

“Platform power” has made it possible for people to “weaponize the web at scale,” he said.

“In recent years, we’ve seen conspiracy theories trend on social media platforms, fake Twitter and Facebook accounts stoke social tensions, external actors interfere in elections, and criminals steal troves of personal data,” he writes.

To help solve the problem, Berners-Lee called for socially-minded regulation.

"A legal or regulatory framework that accounts for social objectives may help ease...tensions," he wrote. "Today’s powerful digital economy calls for strong standards that balance the interests of both companies and online citizens."

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking a court order to prevent Alliance Security, a home security firm, from using telemarketing to sell products and services to consumers.

In its complaint, the agency claims the company called millions of consumers who have listed their numbers on the government's Do Not Call Registry. The FTC says two telemarketers employed by Alliance have agreed to settle charges that they made illegal calls for the company.

According to the FTC, Alliance's owner previously operated a telemarketing operation called Versatile Marketing Solutions, which settled FTC telemarketing- and robocall-related charges in 2014. However, the FTC claims the company and its operator never complied with the agreement but simply changed the company's name.

The government accuses Alliance and its telemarketers of violating the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act. It's asking the court to prevent Alliance from future telemarketing activities.

At the same time, the two telemarketers and their principals -- Defend America and Power Marketing -- have agreed to a settlement with the government that bars them from telemarketing.

How to stop unwanted calls

Consumers who want to stop unwanted telemarketing calls can limit a large percentage of them by listing their phone numbers on the government's Do No Call Registry. You can list both landline and mobile numbers.

If you continue to receive sales calls after that, you'll know the caller is either violating the law or isn't a real company, but a scam operation.

Listing your numbers won't stop all legitimate calls, however. Political organizations are still allowed to make calls -- including robocalls -- as are charitable organizations, survey takers, and debt collectors.

Any company that you've done business with in the past may also call you, as well as any organization you gave permission to call.

The FTC warns that a scam email is circulating that tells recipients their Do Not Call registration is expiring and they must renew. The FTC stresses that a Do Not Call registration never expires. Responding to the email could result in giving permission to the scammer to call your number.

Radagast Pet Food of Portland, Ore., is recalling one lot each of Free-Range Chicken and Free-Range Turkey Recipe.

The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

No pet or human illnesses have been reported.

This following two lots are being recalled:

Rad Cat Raw Diet Free-Range Chicken Lot 62762, Best By Date 10/19/18, shipped to distributors in May 2017 in California. Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island with the following UPC’s:

• 8oz UPC 8 51536 00103 6
• 16oz UPC 8 51536 00104 3
• 24oz UPC 8 51536 00105 0

Rad Cat Raw Diet Free-Range Turkey Recipe Lot 62926, Best By Date 05/03/19 shipped in December 2017 to California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, new York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington, and sold through independent pet retail stores. The recalled product has the following UPC’s:

• 8oz UPC 8 51536 00100 5
• 16oz UPC 8 51536 00101 2
• 24oz UPC 8 51536 00102 9

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact Radagast Pet Food at 503-736-4649 Monday- Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm or online at www.RadFood.com.

River Valley Sprouts is recalling its 5-oz. packages of alfalfa sprouts, garlic/alfalfa and variety sprouts, and 4-oz. Packages of alfalfa sprouts.

The products may be contaminated with Salmonella.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem.

The recalled sprouts were packed in a plastic cup or clam container, shipped from March 6 – 15, 2018, and sold in various grocery stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Some packages have March 15 – 25, 2018 sell by dates on the label.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should discard it or return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Hyundai Motor America is recalling 2,840 model year 2016-2018 Hyundai Sonata Plug-In Hybrids.

Thee vehicles are equipped with a Voltage Protection Device (VPD), designed to protect the high voltage battery module, that may activate inadvertently.

If the VPD activates while the vehicle is being operated in Electric Vehicle mode, there may be a loss of power, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will remove the VPD switch and install a new Battery Management System that contains an Overvoltage Protection Device.

The recall is expected to begin May 4, 2018.

Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 175.

Briggs & Stratton of Wauwatosa, Wis., is recalling about 18,300 Snapper, Simplicity and Massey Ferguson riding mowers sold in the U.S. and Canada.

The reverse-mow option switch can malfunction and allow the riding lawn mowers to unintentionally mow when being driven in reverse, posing a risk of injury to bystanders.

No incidents or injuries are reported.

This recall involves Snapper, Simplicity and Massey Ferguson brand riding lawn mowers.

The mowers were sold in red/black or orange/black color combinations with a Snapper, Massey Fergusen or Simplicity logo on the hood. Riding mowers with the following model and serial numbers are included in the recall:

The model and serial numbers are located on the frame near the front tires. If a black dot is present on either the equipment ID label or the shipping crate label, the product has been repaired and is not included in the recall.

The mowers, manufactured in the U.S., were sold at Briggs & Stratton dealers nationwide from August 2016, through January 2018, for between $1,500 and $13,000.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled mowers and contact a Briggs & Stratton dealer to schedule a free repair.

Consumers may contact Briggs & Stratton at 800-227-3798 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (CT) Monday through Friday, online at www.briggsandstratton.com for more information.

Dealers can be found using the dealer locator at www.simplicitymfg.com, www.snapper.com, or www.masseylawn.com for more information.

News that the firm Cambridge Analytica harvested profile data from Facebook users to advertise for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and other right-wing candidates sparked a major backlash against the social media giant this weekend.

Facebook denies that it was a hack, however, explaining to the New York Times that “no systems were infiltrated, and no passwords or sensitive pieces of information were stolen or hacked.”

In fact, Facebook may have a point. As many have noted, Facebook's own policies didn’t block third parties from accessing user data until 2015, after Cambridge Analytica had already obtained information on an estimated 50 million users.

Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to the revelations publicly Wednesday with promises to review their policies. The site has approximately two billion users, or a quarter of the planet.

Universities, companies, and governments

In what the US Attorney’s office says is “one of the largest state-sponsored hacking campaigns ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice,” the DOJ said today that cyber-criminals in Iran stole $3.4 billion worth of data from 144 American universities. They also allegedly targeted 176 foreign universities, 30 private companies and five government agencies over a four-year period.

The DOJ formally indicted the alleged hackers today, though they were not arrested because they are still in Iran. Prosecutors say they could face detention if they ever try to leave the country.

More than 8,000 American professors were targeted in the attack as part of an effort to steal their research, the government says. The hackers allegedly have links to the Mabna Institute, a tech firm that the DOJ says works on behalf of the Iranian government and Iranian universities.

Orbitz customers

Orbitz, the third-party travel booking site owned by Expedia, announced this week that hackers accessed information on approximately 880,000 credit cards used by customers.

Over a period of several months last year, hackers managed to mine credit information as well as names, birth dates, and addresses on customers who used the site anywhere from from January 2016 to December 2017.

"We are offering affected individuals one year of complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection service in countries where available,” Orbitz said in a statement.

Canadian credit card users

Thieves made off with the rewards points earned by Canadian consumers participating in a grocery store loyalty program.

PC Optimum is a new but popular program in Canada that allows consumers to earn reward points when they shop at certain grocery stores and other retailers.

They may just be points, but they have real value; one victim said she lost more than one million points, allowing hackers to purchase over $1,000 worth of goods with her account. A total of more than 100,000 people had their points stolen.

Physical therapy patients and employees

ATI Physical Therapy, a chain of physical rehabilitation centers across the country, alerted over 35,000 customers yesterday that their data may have been accessed by hackers who were targeting direct deposit data of company employees.

As is becoming the standard when these breaches occur, the company is offering consumers free credit monitoring.

Lawyers representing the U.S. Justice Department and AT&T faced off in federal court in Washington on Thursday as the government attempts to block the company’s merger with Time Warner.

The outcome will likely shape the media landscape for years to come, affecting what entertainment is offered to consumers, how they access it, and what they pay for it. The government claims the union would create a media company that is just too big and powerful, which it says would limit competition.

The Justice Department says AT&T is not only a huge wireless provider, it also owns DirecTV. Time Warner is already a huge content provider. It owns Warner Brothers Studios, along with cable channels like HBO, CNN, and TNT.

But lawyers supporting the merger insist AT&T and Time Warner are not really competitors, arguing their services overlap. They also point out there is plenty of media competition from traditional broadcast networks, as well as over-the-top providers (OTP) like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon.

Early opponent to the merger

Even as a candidate, Donald Trump was against the deal. When AT&T announced the merger deal in 2016, candidate Trump said his administration would block it, though some critics suggested his opposition had more to do with his intense feud with CNN than any antitrust concerns.

Even so, the Consumer Federation of America this month found itself in the odd position of agreeing with the Trump administration, co-publishing a paper that argues the government's case against the merger is both warranted and consistent with past enforcement practices.

The paper concluded that the proposed merger poses a “severe threat” to competition. It argues that when there are policies in place to prevent discrimination against independent service providers, consumers benefit in terms of the quality of content and consumer choice.

Calling the current media landscape a “tight oligopoly on steroids,” the paper argues that the Trump administration's decision to oppose the merger is not only right on the facts but also in line with past enforcement of antitrust law. Reducing competition, the paper argues, would slow innovation, stifle the growth of online video distribution, and raise consumer prices.

Best hope for consumers

“‘Over-the-Top’ competition is the best hope consumers have, but network operators will kill that competition if they are not stopped,” said Dr. Mark Cooper, CFA's director of research. “The most effective way for antitrust authorities to protect competition is to reject vertical mergers that threaten to dramatically increase the market power of network operators like AT&T.”

In opening statements, government lawyers argued that a combined AT&T and Time Warner would be “a weapon,” used to charge rivals more for access to consumers.

Lawyers for the companies, meanwhile, promised that as the case goes forward, they would prove that wouldn't happen.

Following in the footsteps of retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart, Citigroup has become the first major bank to restrict some gun sales.

On Thursday, the lender announced a new commercial firearms policy which restricts its retail-sector clients from offering bump stocks or selling guns to people who haven’t passed a background check or are younger than 21.

The restrictions are for companies that use Citigroup to issue store credit cards or for lending and other services.

‘Common-sense measures’

Citi’s new policy is the first major move to come out of the financial services industry in the wake of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The company is calling the rules “common-sense measures.”

“The policy was designed to respect the rights of responsible gun owners while helping to keep firearms out of the wrong hands,” Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Mike Corbat said in the memo to staff. “It is clear to me that most people believe there are areas of agreement and practical changes we can make to find common ground.”

The policy won’t stop cardholders in its consumer business from shopping at merchants of their choice, the company said.

“We know our clients also care about these issues and we have begun to engage with them in the hope that they will adopt these best practices over the coming months,” said Ed Skyler, a spokesman for Citigroup, in a blog post on the company’s website.

“If they opt not to, we will respect their decision and work with them to transition their business away from Citi,” Skyler said.

Other companies take action

While Citi is the first major U.S. bank to place limits on gun sales, other financial services companies have taken steps to address the issue in other ways. Back in February, Bank of America announced it was reexamining its gun clients.

“We are joining other companies in our industry to examine what we can do to help end the tragedy of mass shootings, and an immediate step we’re taking is to engage the limited number of clients we have that manufacture assault weapons for non-military use to understand what they can contribute to this shared responsibility,” a Bank of America spokesperson said in a statement to Axios.

In the retail industry, both Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods have changed their policy to prohibit gun sales to those under the age of 21. Dick’s also stopped selling assault-style rifles.

Orvis, an outdoor goods company, recently updated its gun sale policy to require that customers seeking to purchase a firearm either be 21 or show proof that they have taken a hunter education and safety course.