News

Texas FI refunding ATM fees

October 11, 2012

At a time of growing account fees and vanishing freebies, this comes as highly unusual news: On October 1, ViewPoint Bank, a Plano-based community FI, began refunding fees charged by other ATM owners to Absolute Checking account holders in Texas.

"We're always looking for ways to make things more convenient for our customers," said ViewPoint Bank president and CEO Kevin Hanigan. "Giving them the ability to use any ATM worldwide for free certainly does that."

Considering Bankrate.com's recent report on the increasing scarcity of free checking accounts and the growing cost of out-of-network ATMs, Absolute Checking is an anomaly.

The free checking account pays interest and imposes no minimum balance requirements. The bank also offers free custom checks, free online bill pay, and a free safe deposit box for one year.

The Bankrate 2012 Checking Survey found that only 39 percent of banks now offer a checking account with no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fee, down from 76 percent in 2009.

For more on this topic, visit the bank/credit union research center.