ATM Fee Tracker Australia » iCASH

ATM Fee Tracker in the media plus a correction

admin — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:12:29 +0000

Wow, what a day! After John Rolfe at the Daily Telegraph in Sydney picked up on our post about variable ATM fees that have the potential to exploit patrons of drinking establishments, we have spent the day being pursued by a number of media outlets. Since then we have had radio spots on 2SM with Leon Delaney, Illawarra South ABC radio with Steve Parsons and 2UE with Tim Webster. We have also filmed with ABC TV News for Sydney (I cannot confirm if that one ran though? Can anyone else…leave a comment).

Now, for the correction. In my interview with Tim Webster on 2UE (click ‘Listen Here’ on 2UE’s Greed and ATM Machines), I mistakenly said that the banks receive a small cut of the ATM direct charged fee you pay at a foreign ATM. This is incorrect, the direct charged fee goes entirely to the operator of the foreign ATM. Your bank has the option of charging you at their end for processing the transaction (ie. a disloyalty fee).

Also, thanks to everyone who has left comments or sent an email with fees they have seen or discussion points. Remember, if you see a fee that is unusually high or that we do not have covered, send it in to info@atmfeetracker.com or leave a comment on the ATM Fee Table page.

ATM Direct Charging - 1st Day Wrap Up

admin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:55:40 +0000

Now that we have seen out the first day of ATM Direct Charging it’s time to review the wash-up. By the end of the day, we were able to visit ATMs from most of the banks and many of the independent operators plus we received additional or confirmation data from other sources (thanks for the input). We even found a bank that was not on our original list! The ATM fee table has been updated accordingly.

The result of all this is we are seeing some trends and some bargains. Firstly, the trend appears to be $2.00 for cash withdrawals from most ATM providers and it is also $2.00 for a balance check at most banks.

More importantly are the ‘bargains’. The one that stands out is balance checks at rediATMs are FREE. We tried this out for ourselves as well as received information from other sources. Not sure what the deal is, but maybe it is a programming error or the rediATM people are genuinely nice guys. As for the best deals (apart from using your home bank’s ATMs) it depends on the scenario.

If you are just withdrawing cash the best deals are NAB and HSBC where it will cost you $1.50*. The other good option is rediATM at $1.75*. Most of the others providers are $2.00* which was the typical number for an inter-bank transfer before the reforms. Avoid Kwik Cash ATMs at $2.20*.

If you want to do a balance check and then a withdrawal, your best deal is a rediATM where it will cost you $1.75* all up. Other good choices are HSBC and NAB which will cost $2.00* at the ATM in total. Avoid doing this type of transaction at Adelaide Bank, ANZ, Bank West, Bendigo Bank, Commonwealth Bank, Laiki Bank, St. George Bank, and Westpac. The independent operators are more reasonable than most banks for this scenario.

Finally, we have not been able to get any data for Bank SA, Indue Money or iCash ATMs. Bank SA is a hard one for us as we are in Melbourne and there are none of their brand of ATMs here. If you are in South Australia and have a card that is not from Bank SA, Westpac or St George please try out the transactions and let us know the fees. It won’t cost you anything if you select ‘no’ at the fee screen when it asks if you want to continue. Also, if you find an Indue, iCash or other ATM that we do not have in the ATM fee table, send us the information on their fees.

* - fee excludes your home bank’s disloyalty fee, if any

iCASH To Cash In For Pubs and Clubs

admin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:01:39 +0000

It’s 11:30PM on Friday night and you’re in a nightclub or down the pub with your mates. “It’s your round”, says one of the boys. You only have $15 left in your pocket (it’s been a big night). You walk up to the ATM next to the ciggy machine and proceed to ask for $50 out. That should last a couple more rounds. Suddenly, the screen flashes up with, “This transaction will cost you $5.00″. You go ahead with the transaction without a thought because there is no other option and you don’t want to disappoint the boys. After six nights like this over the month you could see $30 in direct charge fees for using pub ATMs and your bank has charged you another $12 for being disloyal (but what is the price of disloyalty to your mates). This is an example of what you may face as of 3rd March 2009.

The iCASH machine (see the video below) is being marketed towards pubs, clubs and other stand alone operations for just such a scenario. The operator of the establishment who also is the ATM operator can change the cost of the transaction depending on the time of the day. When you enter the pub at 8PM sober, you may only be charged $2, but later in the night after a few rounds that price could rise to anything such as the $5 in the scenario above. This option is open to all ATM operators including the banks and independants as of the 3rd March, so make sure you are aware and plan your night out to avoid those fees mounting up.

If you come across outragous fees, send us an email with the details to info@atmfeetracker.com. It would also be great if you can include a picture of the ATM screen from your camera/camera-phone.