Average ATM surcharge:When ATMs were first introduced, banks encouranged
their use by offering them at no charge. Those days are long gone.
Now, you're hit two ways. If you use your card at another institution's
ATM, that institution charges you a surcharge. The average ATM surcharge
crept higher again in this survey, up three cents to $1.40. It was
$0.89 when Bankrate conducted its first checking survey five years
ago.
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Average fee to use
another institution's ATM:In addition
to the other bank charging you for using their ATM, your own bank
gets a piece, too. The average fee that your bank charges you to
use another bank's ATM fell slightly in this survey, from $1.30
to $1.29.
Percentage
of institutions with ATM surcharges:It's
getting slightly easier to find a bank that won't charge users a
surcharge: 92.8 percent surcharge now,
compared to 93.2 percent six months ago. However, just five years
ago, only 68.4 percent surcharged.
Annual
surcharge estimate -- in billions:Due
to the decrease in institutions with ATM surcharges, Bankrate's
estimate of the total national surcharge amount we pay each year
barely budged. It stands at $2.105 billion, up a paltry $1 million
from last year -- but more than $1.1 billion higher than
five years ago.
