Australians paying half a billion dollars a year in 'unnecessary' ATM fees

[unhappycamper]

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/21/australians-paying-half-a-billion-dollars-a-year-in-unnecessary-atm-fees

About 40% of transactions done at third-party machines, costing $548m in avoidable charges

Australians paying half a billion dollars a year in 'unnecessary' ATM fees
Australian Associated Press
Monday 21 March 2016 02.12 EDT

Australians are still forking out half a billion dollars a year in ATM fees they don’t need to be paying.

Instead of withdrawing money without charge at their own banks’ ATMs, many continue to use machines belonging to third-party providers, which commonly charge a $2 fee.

About 40% of ATM transactions are done at third-party machines, RateCity.com.au says. That cost Australians an estimated $548m in avoidable ATM fees in the past year, the financial comparison site says after analysing Reserve Bank of Australia data.

“Half a billion dollars a year is an excessive amount of money to be spending on accessing our own money,” RateCity’s money editor, Sally Tindall, said on Monday.