Payments

6 banks that reimburse ATM fees

Here are six banks that partially or fully reimburse ATM fees.

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September 24, 2024 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator

ATMs offer a convenient way to access cash and have continued to see growth, despite changing consumer preferences around payments. However, ATM fees have increased over time and many consumers are left asking: are there any banks that reimburse ATM fees? In addition, independent ATM operators will likely want to know which banks reimburse fees so they can advertise this information to potential customers.

ATM fees come from two sources: the bank itself and the ATM operator. When using an out of network ATM, the bank will charge a fee and the operator will as well. This leads to a current average ATM fee of $4.77, the highest it has been since Bankrate began tracking ATM fees. This can be a significant cost to customers, especially when they are only withdrawing a small amount.

Thankfully, there are many financial institutions that want to improve their banking experience by reimbursing ATM fees. Here are six in particular.

Axos Bank

According to Axos Bank's website, its checking account provides unlimited ATM fee reimbursements. The bank in fact aims to eliminate a great deal of fees as its Essential Checking has no overdraft, non-sufficient funds or monthly maintenance fees.

Schwab Bank

Schwab Bank's Investor Checking Account doesn't have any minimum balance requirements and the bank also refunds ATM fees when using the Schwab Bank Visa Platinum Debit Card.

"We refund ATM fees for cash withdrawals using your Schwab Bank Visa Platinum Debit Card wherever it is accepted at the end of the same month that you used your Schwab Bank Visa Platinum Debit Card," the bank said on a FAQ.

However, there is a catch, as this refund does not include, " fees imposed by merchants or ATM operators for POS transactions, or fees for stamp purchases, balance inquiries, non-local ATM currency withdrawal fees (referred to as dynamic currency conversion fees), or any transaction other than an ATM cash withdrawal from your Schwab Bank account."

Alliant Credit Union

Alliant Credit Union's High Rate Checking Account, which has no monthly service fee, offers ATM rebates of up to $20 each month when customers sign up for e-statements.

This specifically applies to other banking ATMs that charge out-of-network fees. The rebates are deposited into customer's accounts within one business day.

This refund does not apply to "cash advanced from Alliant Visa credit cards through ATMs nor to the Alliant Savings ATM Card and Visa International Service Assessment (ISA) fee, referenced as the foreign transaction fee on account statements," according to Alliant Credit Union's website.

Ally Bank

For Ally Bank customers, there are multiple ways they can avoid fees. For one, they can utilize one of the 55,000 Allpoint ATMs worldwide, which do not charge any fees.

When using other ATMs, Ally Bank will reimburse ATM fees up to $10 at the end of statement cycles.

In addition, Ally Bank will pay interest for the reimbursed cash, "starting on the day the funds are credited to your account."

Consumers Credit Union

Consumers Credit Union offers unlimited reimbursement for all ATM fees for its Rewards Checking account. This also includes more than 30,000 surcharge free-ATMs in the U.S. It is worth noting that in order to meet these requirements, customers will have to have direct deposit set up and in order to get higher interest rates, they will need to make at least 12 debit card purchases monthly.

USAA

USAA breaks down ATMs into three categories: USAA, USAA preferred and non-USAA. For USAA and preferred, there are 100,000 ATMs customers can use without being charged any fees.

As for non-USAA ATMs, the bank will reimburse up to $10 each monthly statement cycle in fees to customers.

However, customers can only deposit cash or checks at USAA-branded ATMs.

Conclusion

No one likes to pay fees for services they typically get for free. By utilizing these banks, customers can at least get some or all ATM fees reimbursed.

There are other options for customers to avoid ATM fees while shopping at retailers, such as utilizing a surcharge-free ATM network like Allpoint. You can read more about Allpoint ATMs here.

About Bradley Cooper

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Bradley Cooper is the editor of ATM Marketplace and Food Truck Operator. He was previously the editor of Digital Signage Today. His background is in information technology, advertising, and writing.

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