Posted by Maneesh Sethi :: June 6, 2009 @ 10:38 amJust a few weeks ago, my plane landed into a biting ice storm in New York City. My itinerary? Salvador, Brazil to New York City; that is, a boiling summer to a caustic winter. Hearing the chuckles of nearby passengers as I walked towards the ATM, clothed only in flip flops, Bermuda shorts, and a thin white T-shirt, I suddenly realized that there are no Wells Fargo ATMs in all of New York City.
For the first time ever, I was asked to pay an ATM fee, something I’ve never had to do before. I paid the $2.50 to withdraw money, and when I arrived at my hotel and checked my bank statement, I realized that Wells Fargo had ALSO charged me an additional $2.50 for using an outside ATM, bringing my one-time withdrawal fee to a total of $5, or about 5% of my entire withdrawal.
In California, where I used to live, of course I never experienced this problem. I used only Wells Fargo ATMs and never had to deal with any fines. I was surprised, though, when I mentioned this story to family and friends and realized that this situation wasn’t as uncommon as I thought. Some friends had been living in New York City for almost a year without ever figuring out a way to escape the bank fees!
Are you in a situation where you find yourself paying insane bank fees for withdrawals? If you are losing $5 per withdrawal, you are spending hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars a year in bank fees! This is money you could spend paying off your debt or traveling around the world!
My solution to this particular problem is to use Wachovia ATMs in New York City, since Wells Fargo bought their bank and now offers free ATM withdrawals. However, you might be spending tons of money because you find yourself without cash at gas stations or other places. How much could you save by withdrawing money ahead of time?
Do you find yourself paying a lot in ATM fees? What do you do to handle them? How do you solve this problem?
8 Comments
I use a rewards checking account that will pay the fees for you. Here are some banks that offer rewards checking.
I haven't paid an ATM fee in years. My bank (USAA) refunds any fees. Until last week. I was in a bind and my card was not working. I had to get a cash advance from an ATM using my credit card. The cash advance costs 3% or $5 whichever is greater. Then the ATM fee was $3. A $200 withdrawal cost me $9.
Poor Americans
With my German bank (DKB) I get free ATM withdrawals worldwide. I can use any ATM with my VISA card.
If you use an online bank they will rebate ATM fees up to a certain point, say $30. They also don't charge you to use another bank's ATMs. I haven't paid an ATM fee in a long time for that reason.
I personally have a USAA bank account that will pay back 10 withdrawal fees that are charged by the other bank, and does not have any charges of there own. ING Direct has a host of 3rd party ATMs that don't add fees and I hear PNC does something very similar to the USAA account that I meantioned above.
I got off of the local bank charge bandwagon years ago, and get better interst rates to boot. Currently I do basic checking/savings with E-Trade Bank, which never charges a fee and E-Trade Bank will even pay you back for the fees of using an ATM at another bank. But I have actually never even got a refund though, even there is next to no E-Trade Bank ATMs around (as in I have never had to pay the fee).
The reason me and my wife didn't pay for fees is because I would go to Washington Mutual ATMs, which don't charge a fee (even if you have no account with them), and my wife would simply ask for extra cash back when she purchase something at the supermarket using an ATM (no charges).
Awhole lot
Bank really do rip their clients off with bank charges, and there really seems to be no way around it!
There are services that some banks offer, but unfortunately not all countries have these services
From a little recent travel experience, it's worthwhile going to a branch from your bank and asking what other services are available to lower ATM withdrawals. Many types of accounts will offer packages to minimize these costs, including splitting your account into two to double the monthly usage allowances.
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