Campaigners call for action over fee-charging ATMs

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=4c07b1efa7688a7e&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Campaigners call for action over fee-charging ATMs

LUCY BANNERMAN March 28 2005

CONSUMER groups and campaigners yesterday demanded tougher controls on the operators of fee-charging cash machines, to force them to give customers a better deal.
The calls came ahead of a far-reaching report into ATM regulations, which will reveal that British bank customers are paying about £140m a year to withdraw their own money.
This week, a House of Commons committee report on the new generation of ATMs, which charge as much as £1.75 for each transaction, is expected to recommend tighter regulations and transparency among operators, who control about 40% of machines not directly attached to banks.

more...

Why in America can't we get these charges removed... Its our own dang money we are asking for!!!

[democracyindanger]

1. This concerns privately-owned ATMs

Like the kind you find at the cornershop.

San Francisco passed a law a few years ago abolishing ATM fees, but it was struck down in court--something about the feds having jurisdiction over banking activity.

[InternalDialogue]

2. It's Al Franken's "Why Not Me?"

It's life inventing art inventing life again. (Apologies to Glen Phillips.)

[TexasLawyer]

6. Exactly

That book is FUNNY! For those of you DU-ers who haven't read it, the ATM fee "issue" is THE cornerstone of candidate Franken's campaign.

Of course, it is a completely bogus non-issue, but since it tests well in the focus groups and doesn't step on the toes of too many special interests, he's all over it.

[DustMolecule]

3. If you remember, ATM's were free when they were initially intorduced....

...if you wanted to see a *teller* - at first there was no charge to talk with him/her for up to three times/per month....that was BECAUSE the atm's could do everything *for free!!!* Wheeeeeeeee***

Well, well, well, how the paradigm has changed.......now every visit to the atm is at a premium charge....what a bunch of lemmings we all are!!!

[Warpy]

4. Still free at my bank

because they don't want their customers using real, live tellers. Human beings cost more money than the machines do, and you can't claim depreciation on them year after year.

They start charging, and my money goes out of the account and into my futon.

[spinbaby]

8. Still free at my bank, too

But my bank (a major bank in the east) keeps reducing the number of ATMs it has, whereas the private fee-charging ATMs keep multiplying.

[Greylyn58]

5. I got tired of being fee'd and charged to death

for money I worked damn hard for. Was so glad when I got into my Credit Union. No fees at their ATM's and don't take money from my account each month even when it falls below a certain level.

Pretty soon the banks are gonna charge people a fee for just walking in their office. It's almost that way now. Disgusting!!

Thank God for my Credit Union.

[jmcon007]

7. One thing I know is coming....

Soon retail places and banks (in the US anyway)will be hooked up to be able to debit your account faster than a debit card. No more buying groceries now and covering your check this afternoon.
Banks are drooling over this because of all the insufficient charges they'll rake in. This is the best money maker they have.
That's what "free checking" is all about. Go in, open an account for $50 and they figure these hand-to-mouth folks are going to be bouncing checks before long and it's hello profit! $30 to $35 a lick?

[Silverhair]

12. Simple solution - Don't write OD checks. NT

[Saintgermane]

9. A banker's view on ATM's

First of all, if YOUR bank is charging you a fee to use your ATM card issued by YOUR bank, I completely agree, those fees are bogus.

However, most banks I know, and mine is one, do not charge customers a fee for using one of their own ATM's. Ours does not, nor do we charge for using an ATM owned by one of our affiliates, which are located throughout the southeast.

Most banks DO charge a foreign ATM fee...meaning, if you use your card at an ATM that does not belong to your bank, you will get hit with a double whammy - once at the ATM, and once by your bank.

In all reasonablenss, some fee is acceptable. There is a cost to ATM's - maintenance, electricity, the cost of security to travel to, resupply, and maintain the ATM.....vandalism, theft, and wear and tear add to the cost. Further, not all ATM's make a profit...amd each ATM is tracked on a cost versus revenue basis...many ATM's are operated at a loss (it costs the company money to keep it there), but are maintained to provide wider service coverage. These costs are underwritten by ATM's that do turn a profit.

Since ATM's are provided as a convenience, some level of cost-passing is probably appropriate.

One always has the option of planning ahead and visiting a branch to withdraw funds, or of using a check.

Moreover, most ATM cards also function as debit cards, and most banks don't charge a fee for this....I counsel my customers, when traveling, to use the ATM function sparingly, withdrawing single, larger amounts rather than several smaller amounts.

Like any service, there is a cost, but wise use can minimize or eliminate those costs....it's called being an educated consumer.

Ahem,

Despite being about a 5-year DU'r, complete with bumper sticker and liberal attitude, but I don't post much, and I know my post count is low, so go ahead and flame away....

[Silverhair]

10. Excellent Post. NT

[cascadiance]

15. I disagree...

The banks shouldn't be charging foreign fees *directly* to the customer. They should be charged to your bank. If your bank can't deal with these fees, then they should pass it along to you. If your bank has enough affiliates in your area, and they work hard to get you to use them, then they and you should not get billed for anything. If they are a member of a coop, like many credit unions are, then they all benefit mutually from no fees being charged as long as the credit union member uses one of the coops machines.

Banks that have many ATMs in various places do have an added cost, even if you as a member of their bank are using their ATMs. Those banks that don't have as many physical banks, should be "renting" others' use by paying the added fees (not the customer). If in some areas that set of fees gets too high, then the solution for them is simple. Add their own ATM to that area to direct their customers to.

Did banks charge "teller fees" when people went into banks and engaged a human teller to make deposits or withdraw money, etc.? NO! But arguably paying that person's salary and the floor space, etc. is a lot more than those using ATMs. Why should those using ATMs have to pay a higher price. They save the banks money in the long run. The banks are charging money for ATM usage (and moreso all the time) because *they can*. It is because they have local "monopolies" in many places like malls and airports that force people to use their ATMS in those locations with added fees.

Another trend I'm seeing that's disturbing is for banks to increasingly charge for depositing or making change with coin rolls. It used to be that I could even go into a CU Coop "Service Center" credit union for free service such as depositing coin rolls or getting cash for them. Now the "service center" near me wants to charge me a quarter per roll I do this with, making using the change machines cheaper.

I've since said screw it and that I'm just going to "spend" these coin rolls at businesses I don't like (red state businesses) instead of cash or at places I like if after asking they say they would want these coin rolls instead.

It still is part of this insidious trend of "bank fees" though.

[Silverhair]

11. Hey, I want everything to be free.

Why pay for anything? So what if the machines cost money to buy, install, maintain, service, and provide security for? We all want it for free!!!! Same with everything else. Food, shelter, and clothing, etc are basic needs. Shouldn't they be free.

What do you mean that I have to work for free too??? Hell no, I want a paycheck.

Simple solution to the ATM problem. Get a no fee bank account, keep the minimum in it, cash your paycheck in full on each payday. Don't like that idea? I don't either.

My bank's ATM is free, I plan the amounts of the withdrawals, and if I have to use an ATM that is not part of my bank's system, I know in advance that I am going to have to pay a fee. In a typical month I pay NO ATM fees at all.

[tinanator]

13. banks are the enemy

if we had our collective shit together we would organize a massive withdrawal from targeted banks like those bastards at Citibank, BofItaly or any of them. Drop your cable company and walk away from your bank and watch society bend to your will.

[CornField]

14. All ATMs were previously free in Iowa -- changed last year (?)

It might have been a couple years ago now... I don't remember exactly.

We still are fee-free if we use the ATMs provided by our bank (which we do 99% of the time). It was a definite shock when we were traveling and an ATM wanted to charge me $5 to get my own money. LOL!

Now, when we travel, we use the debit card and get cash on top of any purchases we make.