SAN FRANCISCO -- Visa USA is introducing a Plus No Surcharge Alliance, an optional service that will help financial institution members of its Plus network to expand no-surcharge ATM access for their cardholders.

As financial institutions join the Plus No Surcharge Alliance, specially designed decals will be added to participating ATMs, and cardholders will be notified by their financial institution if it is a participant, according to a news release.

In addition, the Visa/Plus ATM locator service on Visa.com and a toll-free hotline (1-800-The-Plus) will assist cardholders in identifying participating ATMs. 

"Visa's efforts to formalize and develop an infrastructure for a national no surcharge alliance will provide small and mid-sized financial institutions an excellent way to offer cardholders easier access to their bank funds while not being surcharged and reinforces the value Plus provides to issuing financial institutions," said Stacey Pinkerd, Visa USA's senior vice president for Debit and Prepaid Products.

According to the release, Visa has upgraded the Plus network to increase its processing capacity and allow for future enhancements, such as the Plus No Surcharge Alliance and Plus Shared Deposits, which allows consumers to make deposits at ATMs not operated by their own financial institutions.

Earlier this year, MasterCard International modified its membership rules to allow members to form bilateral or multilateral surcharge-free ATM alliances. (See related story MasterCard modifies rules to allow surcharge-free ATM alliances)