Many in the ATM business mark April 1 by thanking their lucky stars. That's the date in 1996 that the Plus and Cirrus networks lifted their restrictions on ATM surcharging, making it possible for independents and others to make a living deploying ATMs.

The Public Interest Research Group marks the anniversary in a different way, by issuing a report highly critical of the so-called convenience fee. They contend it lessens the benefit of shared ATM networks and encourages the growth of big banks at the expense of their smaller competitors.

PIRG has become one of the country's leading anti-surcharge advocates. It has released five previous surcharge reports – two in 1996 and one each in 1997, 1998 and 1999 -- and a white paper called "ATM Fee Backlash." State chapters of PIRG have been involved in numerous attempts to legislate the fee.

In this year's report, PIRG says that the average bank surcharge is $1.47, up from $1.37 in 1999.

The cost of using an ATM has nearly tripled since surcharging began, PIRG says.

According to the study, consumers in 1995 paid only a foreign fee, averaging $1.01 nationally, to use an out-of-network machine. In 2001, the combined foreign fee and surcharge averages $2.86.

PIRG says that 94 percent of all banks surveyed in 2001 impose surcharges on non-accountholders using their ATMs. While 97 percent of big banks collect surcharges, only 50 percent of credit unions do so, PIRG says.

Surcharges are also steeper at big banks, defined by PIRG as the 300 largest in terms of deposits. Average big bank surcharges were $1.55 in 2001, compared to $1.36 at small banks and $1.24 at credit unions, according to the study.

Foreign fees have increased as well, to $1.39 in 2001 from $1.20 in 1999. Again, PIRG says big banks charge more, an average of $1.52 compared to an average of $1.17 at small banks.

The group conducted a March poll of 333 banks and 43 credit unions in 25 states and the District of Columbia to obtain its data, following up by visiting machines when possible.

The American Bankers Association says that the PIRG study is misleading and counters with a study of its own. According to the ABA's consumer study, also conducted in March, 57 percent of ATM users never pay a fee, while another 22 percent pay $6 or less a month to use foreign machines. Only 19 percent pay $6 or more a month in fees, the ABA says.

The ABA also notes that the surcharge has led to a proliferation of ATMs in locations like movie theaters, hospitals and grocery stores. Before the surcharge was widely instituted, ATMs were found primarily at bank branches. Since 1995 the number of off-site machines has more than doubled, to 273,000, according to the ABA.

 "Without this new source of revenue, thousands of these new ATMs would have to be shut down and, unfortunately, leave consumers with fewer choices," says ABA Executive Vice President Donald Ogilvie.

A new wrinkle in this year's PIRG study is a mention of ATM card annual fees, which PIRG reports are becoming more common. According to PIRG, 18 percent of banks now charge an annual fee for ATM cards, ATM/debit cards or both. Twenty-four percent of big banks collect the fee, while 12 percent of small banks do so.