Australia’s ‘Big Four’ banks have decided to remove the cash withdrawal fee for using their ATMs. This means you will no longer be charged $2 for using a CBA, Westpac, ANZ or NAB ATM with your card, regardless of who you bank with. Or to put it another way, the banks are rorting us slightly less than before.
Following Commonwealth Bank’s surprise decision to axe ATM fees yesterday, Westpac, ANZ and NAB have all followed suit with announcements of their own.
Effective from October, customers will no longer be slugged with a fee when they use an ATM from one of the aforementioned banks – regardless of the banking institution that they belong to. The only exceptions are overseas bank cards and different-branded ATMs owned by the big four, such as CBA’s Bankwest.
Last year, more than 250 million “foreign” withdrawals were recorded by Australian banks, which works out to a minimum of $500 million in fees. A significant chunk of this extra revenue was straight profit.
It’s worth noting that the timing of this decision happens to coincide with the looming threat of a royal commission into the banking sector. It could be a coincidence, or it could be a hasty attempt to eradicate an unjustifiable and deeply unpopular fee before it has a chance to be properly scrutinised.
In any event, it’s good news for consumers who will no longer have to hunt for their own bank’s ATM whenever they want some cash. Hurrah!
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/09/commonwealth-bank-is-axing-atm-fees/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/09/CommBank.jpg” title=”Commonwealth Bank Is Axing ATM Fees” excerpt=”Commonwealth Bank has removed fees for all bank customers that use its automated teller machines (ATMs). This means that members of ANZ, NAB, Westpac-St.George and other banks will no longer be slugged with a $2 cash-withdrawal fee for using CommBank ATMs.”]
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