Fed to Examine Rising ATM Fees

CSP Daily News
December 14, 2009

Independent research conducted by Bankrate.com reveals that banks now impose an average fee of $2.22 to non-customers who withdraw funds from their ATMs. That is up 12.6 percent in the last year and is in addition to the average fee of $1.32 that is charged by the consumer's own bank for using an ATM that is out of its network. At the prodding of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has pledged to have his agency review the trend of rising ATM fees. "ATM fees are getting so onerous that the costs of accessing your money easily outweighs the convenience factor," according to the legislator. "These mounting fees demand a response from federal regulators. Consumers are bearing an unfair burden in maintaining the health of banks' balance sheets." Schumer earlier in the year raised the battle cry for the Fed to reform overdraft fees charged by banks when customers exceed their account balance. The lawmaker also authored the part of 2009's major credit card reform measure that dealt with abusive gift card practices.