News

Australian group calls for end to ATM fees in remote areas

April 10, 2012

Aboriginal people pay up to 20 percent of their income in ATM fees, according to a 2010 report by Financial Couselling Australia. Now the group is calling for a complete ban on ATM fees in remote areas, a report at abc.net.au said.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, a watchdog group, and Australia's Territory Insurance Office have created posters warning of high fees, which will be placed at 40 stores in Aboriginal areas in the country's Northern Territory.

Due to high illiteracy rates in those regions, the posters have been equipped with audio modules that play the warning in the listener's choice of 12 indigenous languages,an earlier report at theaustralian.com.au said.

However, Fiona Guthrie of Financial Counselling Australia says ATM fees in remote communities should be abolished altogether.

"If you live in a remote community, the ATM is almost certainly provided by a private provider," she told abc.net. "That means that every time you use an ATM, it is what you call a 'foreign transaction', so you get charged a fee … if you've got no choice, and you're being exploited by excessive fees, ultimately we've got to do something about not having those fees charged in the first place."

The story also said that a government task force has been examining the issue of ATM fees, but its findings have not been made public yet.

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