ATM fees are getting out of control. Whenever customers use ATM machines outside their bank network, they often pay exorbitant fees. Bloomberg reported:
This year marks the 11th consecutive annual increase in bank ATM fees for customers using out-of-network machines, according to a new Bankrate.com report. Over the past decade, such fees have risen 55 percent. The average cost of such a transaction is now over $4.50.
ATM fees aren’t rising due to overwhelming demand. In fact, it’s the opposite. “It keeps getting easier to avoid the fees, and people are transitioning away from cash,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst. “With fewer people making out-of-network ATM withdrawals, the cost of maintaining that network is being spread over fewer transactions.”
The average overdraft fee reached a new high of $33.38, up from $33.04 in 2016… The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau zeroed in on overdraft fees in a recent report. Consumers who pay a lot in overdraft fees “tend to be more credit-constrained,” to have lower credit scores and be less likely to have a general purpose credit card, it found. That means overdraft fees can weigh heavily on already fragile finances.