Rants
ATM Rip-offs
How much are you getting charged to save your bank money? Well, that's what you're doing everytime you use an ATM (automated teller machine). See, when banks have to use tellers to process transactions, that's very expensive. A human teller has a salary, benefits, needs a bathroom and lunch break, etc. So whenever you use an ATM instead of a teller, you're saving your bank money.
Unfortunately, banks charge you for using ATMs and saving them money. Sound like a rip-off? It is. The banks will have you believe that the charges go to maintaining the ATM network. In reality, the amount of money they charge, usually $1.50 on each end (if you are using an ATM owned by a bank other than your own), is so inflated, it could probably feed a small country.
Banks must think people have very short memories (and maybe we do) because if you remember several years back, it was the banks who were trying to force ATMs down our throats. The banks knew it would save them money, and in fact a study came out several years back (when ATM technology was fairly new) that compared an ATM transaction to a teller transaction. Even at that time, when ATM technology was new and costly, ATMs saved banks money, with an average teller transaction costing the bank just under three dollars, and the ATM transaction costing around 32 cents. Remember, this was *before* ATM fees.
Is there any hope of this changing?
Hard to say. In the few areas where the government has tried to limit ATM extortion, the banks have taken a crybaby-like, "take my marbles and go home" attitude and made it so only their own customers can use their ATMs. How very professional, eh? Things are actually more likely to get worse. As ATM usage becomes more common, bank's lobby hours are reduced and staff is cut, saving the banks even more money. Also, look for Internet-style advertisements to start showing up on ATM screens (personal prediction here) so banks can make even more money off ATMs.
What can you do to fight back?
A few things. First off, if there's a small local bank in your area, use it. Avoid the mega-giant banks who's names change every other year. These are the people who pioneered ATM fees. They also tend to have higher charges for basic services. Second, avoid withdrawing small sums of money frequently. Instead, try to decide how much money you will need for the week and withdraw it up-front, and try to do it at your bank. If you do have to use some other bank's ATM, withdraw a larger sum. It's better to pay the $3.00 once than to pay it for every $20 you withdraw. Also, try to use a teller whenever possible. If, starting tomorrow, everyone in the world stopped using ATMs because of ATM fees, and started using tellers, ATM fees would disappear, because remember, ATMs save banks a lot of money, even without the fees.
For more information on stopping ATM fees,
please visit: http://www.stopatmfees.com/
