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Bank of America Hikes ATM Fees

By Kathy Chu,

USA Today

Posted: 2007-09-13 11:12:57

In a move that's expected to prompt higher fees industrywide, Bank of America has raised, to $3, the amount it charges non-customers to withdraw cash from most of its ATMs.

By Mario Tama, Getty Images

Bank of America, which has the largest ATM network in the nation, could affect millions of consumers with its new $3 surcharge.

The fee, up from $2 per withdrawal, was quietly rolled out across the country in July and August. It's the highest such fee ever imposed nationwide by a major bank. Because Bank of America has the largest ATM network in the USA, the higher fees could hit millions of consumers.

The development will likely lead other banks to raise their ATM fees, too. "Banks often move like a school of fish on punitive charges such as ATM surcharges and credit card late fees, so it's just a matter of time before others follow suit," says Greg McBride, a senior analyst at Bankrate.com.

Citi, Chase, Wachovia and Wells Fargo say they have no immediate plans to raise ATM fees but add that in setting their own pricing, they review what their competitors are doing.

At Bank of America, spokeswoman Betty Riess says the higher fees help offset the "significant investment" the bank has made to upgrade and expand its cash machines. The bank decided to charge non-customers a $3 fee at 10,700 ATMs nearly two-thirds of its network in bank branches and supermarkets as a way to "reduce wait time for our own customers," Riess says.

Most non-customers who use Bank of America ATMs, Riess says, do so at shopping malls, convenience stores and airports; the withdrawal fee at those machines remains $2. (Most people also get hit with a separate fee by their own bank for using another bank's ATM.)

Banks increasingly rely on fees and other charges as a more "stable and predictable" source of income than revenue tied to loan products, says Gwenn Bézard of Aite Group, a consulting firm.

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2174 comments

portugal10 09:53:00 AM Sep 16 2007

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Bank of Amigo first decides to give credit cards to illegals, which eventually will default and the rest of us will have to pay for it in higher fees etc, now they dip in the pockets of people that use ATMs. I never use an ATM so to me I could care less. If you can't plan your banking properly and you depend too much on ATMs to get quick money that you probably most ofetn don't need, than you deserve to pay.
They can raise it to $20 I could care less I don't use ATM I plan my banking properly. What happens to alot of people is they go adn withdraw $20 at a time and a little while later they are getting another $20.

allyoop44060 11:21:03 PM Sep 14 2007

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This is legal extortion. I remember when ATM's were a brand new concept. It was-let me see here-1970 or so when I got my first debit card. I remember the banks were practically begging people to use them back then. They had contests and gave away free gifts, free checking accounts, etc, etc,...anything so we would get hooked and they could do what they really wanted to do... get rid of human bank tellers. That way they could cut down on overhead and boost profits by firing tellers. See, if we used the ATM's that meant we wouldn't have to go use tellers, and that way they wouldn't have to give the tellers decent wages or pay for health care benefits. We got sucked in didn't we all? We've come full-circle now haven't we? Now we get butt-raped every time we need to get OUR OWN money out of the bank, and we actually have to pay for the privilege.
What a snow job these banks have done on us all. I'm sick, sick, sick of corporate greed. How much profit is enough?

tutu3840 04:13:36 PM Sep 14 2007

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If you have atm card from BA, use it only in their machines. If you don't have one, don't use their machines. You will not be charged a fee that way. It is not a nee fee but an increase in fees already charged. Read, stop and think and then do the right thing for you. If you need the cash and the only atm avail. charges a fee, them you are paying for a fee. You don't work for someone for nothing do you???

PuRpLeSuN121 02:42:46 PM Sep 14 2007

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This is ridiculous! Banks should be paying us a fee to use their ATMs. They didn't prepare for the credit crunch in the first place. Why are we paying for their poor businesses practices?

Unfortunately, fees will increase across the board and don't think they will only apply to consumers; merchants have seen the interchange fee skyrocket 117% since 2001. Fight these unfair credit card fees http://www.unfaircreditcardfees.com.

nukedubya 02:14:00 PM Sep 14 2007

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I just checked; nukeboa is available as a username.

tewodrossam 02:12:53 PM Sep 14 2007

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IT is not fair to raise the fee to $3. It will harm the credibility of the Bank and ultimately loose its customers.I will not use Boa Atm service,that is it.