A sailor uses an ATM at U.S. Naval Support Activity Naples in Italy on July 24, 2024. Starting Monday, service members and other customers of Community Bank no longer will have a U.S. currency option in the online bill payment system. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
NAPLES, Italy — Customers of the Defense Department’s overseas bank will soon lose the option of using U.S. currency in its online bill payment system.
The change by Community Bank takes effect Monday and applies only to remittances in American dollars. Customers still will be able to make payments in euros and British pounds, the Defense Finance Accounting Service said in a statement Wednesday.
As of May, less than 1% of global online banking customers used the U.S. dollar bill payment service each month, DFAS spokesman Steve Burghardt said in the statement.
The low usage contributed to the decision to discontinue the U.S. currency option, he said.
Service members, civilian workers and other eligible DOD-related people living overseas most commonly use the bank’s bill pay service to pay for rent, utilities and other needs that require local foreign currency.
But some have used the service for U.S.-based bills, such as credit card payments.
Account holders were notified of the impending change, and the bank is helping customers determine “alternative methods to make these payments,” including recurring drafts, Burghardt said.
Starting Monday, the Defense Department's Community Bank no longer will offer customers online bill pay in U.S. currency. Community Bank has more than 60 offices and nearly 300 ATMs at military installations overseas. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
Community Bank has more than 60 offices and nearly 300 ATMs at military installations worldwide, including those in Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Honduras, according to the bank’s website.
It is overseen by DFAS in coordination with Military Services banking representatives. Earlier this year, Navy Federal Credit Union took over the bank’s daily operations, replacing Bank of America after more than four decades, Stars and Stripes reported in April.
