Australians losing millions of dollars in ATM fees
Australians are getting hit by unnecessary ATM fees, which has seen them waste an estimated $43 million on what experts call a ‘lazy tax’.
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Exclusive: Confusion over ATM withdrawal fees has seen Australians stung $43 million in the past year.
The big four banks dropped a $2 withdrawal ATM fee charged to customers of other banks in 2017.
But a Finder.com.au survey of more than 1000 people found more than half of respondents had no idea.
The figures provided exclusively to News Corp found more than half of those surveyed (52 per cent) thought they had been charged for ATM withdrawals in the past year.
Finder estimated Australians wasted nearly $43 million on $2 ATM withdrawal fees in the past year.
The Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, NAB and Westpac dropped the “foreign ATM fee for non-customers” against a backdrop of falling ATM withdrawals and cash payments.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, the nation’s fifth largest, still charges non-customers $2.50 to withdraw cash from their machines.
It also costs a maximum of $2.50 at a RediATM unless you are a customer of one of 30 financial institutions that are part of its network, including the Bank of Queensland, the Bank of Sydney and Suncorp.
Other privately-owned ATMs that can be found at petrol stations, hospitality venues and stores also charge a similar figure.
The average withdrawal fee at a Next Payments ATM is $2.56 a company spokesman said, while IF machines charge on average $2.50 according to its website.
Some banks also offer accounts which reimburse ATM fees.
Cardholders of ME Bank’s Buck card are refunded any charges within 30 days, while ING’s Orange Everyday account rebates ATM costs within five days so long as the customer deposits $1,000 a month into the account and makes five or more card purchases.
Personal finance expert at Finder.com.au, Kate Brown, said confusion was still prevalent around ATM fees.
“Aussies’ lack of knowledge around ATM fees means many could still be wasting money on withdrawing cash as some banks still charge,” Ms Brown said.
“Two dollars might not seem like much, but for 20 withdrawals a year, that’s $40 for a service that’s free at most ATMs.
“Most ATMs make it very clear you’ll be charged a fee before withdrawing. If you don’t want to pay the lazy tax, walk away and find another one.”
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RBA data showed the number of ATM withdrawals had dropped by 21 per cent in five years.
But financial planner at Envision Financial, Luke Smith, said there were benefits to shopping with cash.
“The best way to control your budget is to shop with cash, it helps you to see what you’re spending, realise and remember the outgoing, remember what you have done and limit impulse purchases that are lost with a swipe of your credit card,” Mr Smith said.
“Shopping with cash will make you think if you really need larger purchase as you have to hand over a lot of notes, this can help with your assessment of need or want.”
It emerged in October that three of the four big institutions were considering joining forces to share the cash machines.
The move would mirror arrangements in some overseas countries where ATMs don’t have specific bank branding.
Australian Payments Network’s chief executive officer Andy White told News Corp at the time that it would improve the distribution of ATMs nationally.
He added cash usage across the nation had declined considerably which had forced banks to rethink their ATM strategy.
“Cash is declining considerably, cash payments halved from around 70 per cent of consumer payments in 2007 … to 37 per cent by 2016,” he said.
“Because people are using less cash to make payments it means they are using ATMs less.”