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Aussie FIs' ATM fees 'an outrage,' watchdog group says

The consumer watchdog group CHOICE is particularly incensed by Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's practice of charging its customers to use their home bank's ATMs.

January 12, 2015

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has taken considerable heat lately in the Australian press for charging its own customers to use its ATMs.

According to The New Daily, the bank charges A70 cents (57 cents) for each cash withdrawal or balance inquiry customers make at its nationwide network of 2,000 machines. It is the only Australian bank charging home-bank fees, the publication said.

The practice has been decried as "an outrage," by the consumer watchdog group CHOICE. A bank spokesperson told the publication that Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is reviewing its fee structure.

National Australia Bank also has been criticized for hiking its off-us ATM fees from A$1.50 to $2 ($1.22 to $1.63) within the past year-and-a-half.

According to Australia's central bank, a cash withdrawal costs the bank an average of A77 cents (63 cents).

According to the Daily, Australian banks charge foreign fees as follows:

• A$2 ($1.63) — NAB, CBA, Westpac, ANZ, Bankwest, Bendigo and Adelaide, St George;
• A$2.50 ($2.04) — Suncorp, Rediteller ATMs, Cashcard ATMs; and
• A$3-$5 ($2.45–$4.08) — white label ATMs.

In the United States, the average off-us ATM fee as of 2014 was $2.77, according to an annual study by bankratemonitor.com.