STRATEGIC PARTNERS
December 9, 2001
Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) will no longer charge customers of other financial institutions to use its Florida-based ATMs. The firm has 225 ATMs in the state, spread throughout the counties of Orange, Seminole and Lake.
The Seattle-based bank previously charged non-bank customers in South Florida $1 per account balance check and $1.50 per cash withdrawal.
Non-customers of Washington Mutual still will be responsible for fees charged by their own FIs.
According to a report published in the Orlando Sentinel, Gwynn Virostek, Washington Mutual's area manager for South Florida, said the fees were removed because customers didn't want them, and that the bank hopes their removal will attract new customers.
In 1999 Washington Mutual began eliminating the cash withdrawal fees at its ATMs in Washington and several other states.
Washington Mutual, the country's largest savings bank, had $229 billion in assets as of June 30. In South Florida, the bank has 96 branches with about $5.5 billion in deposits.
