Every American at some point has stood in front of an ATM and gasped as the screen showed just how much the machine was charging you to access cash from your very own bank account. The national average per ATM transaction is $2.50, but in some parts of the country, it can be as high as $5.00.
The most shocking part of this fee is that, on average, the real cost of processing a transaction today is only 36 cents or less. Where does the rest of the money go? It is going to the big banks, the big card networks and independent machine owners.
In recent years, Congress has acted to protect consumers by setting appropriate limits on the types of fees that financial institutions can charge consumers in areas such as credit cards, but one area that remains unregulated is the fees consumers pay to use ATMs. Currently, there is no limit on what the operator of an ATM can charge a consumer for using that machine.
This is unfair and it is a policy we must address head on.
The Senate has an opportunity to do so in the financial reform package now moving through Congress, The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010. An amendment that I have proposed for inclusion in the pending Wall Street reform bill protects consumers.
My amendment requires the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to ensure that fees charged to consumers at ATMs bear a reasonable relation to the cost of processing the transaction. Essentially, it says that the big banks can set up a reasonable charge based upon what the costs are, but no more than 50 cents per transaction. Think about that: anytime you go to your ATM machine, no matter how much money you withdraw, the machine can only charge you a reasonable fee for the convenience, but in no case more than 50 cents.
Some people may think that $2.00 is not much, but here is the other unfair thing about it. The average person going to an ATM machine takes out on average $20.00 or $50.00 to get them through a day or two, and they are charged $2.50 for accessing that money. Yet someone else may withdraw $500.00, and they pay the same $2.50. The burden falls more heavily on low-income and moderate-income people. That is grossly unfair. And that is why groups like the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action, Consumers Union and the National Consumer Law Center support my amendment on behalf of their low-income clients.
Until 2002, in my home state of Iowa, the law required any bank establishing an ATM make it available at no cost to all users. But in 2002, this reasonable Iowa law was preempted by Federal banking regulators. According to the New Rules Project, national banks collected nearly $5 million in ATM fees from Iowa consumers in the first six months after the Iowa law was overturned. Iowa credit unions data said it was about $10 million just in the first year. Add that up and it equals a lot of money.
Our mission in financial reform is to level the playing field for the average Joe. My amendment goes to the heart of that mission, ensuring consumers are no longer victimized by unfair fees and putting the balance back where it should be: on the side of hardworking Americans.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/19/AR2010051903442.html?hpid=sec-world
Harkin’s Amendment 3812, which would have capped the ATM surcharge at $.50, has been replaced by a new amendment, 4085.
Machine cost - $5000 with a life span of 10-20 years, monthly cost of $20-$40 a month
Phone/Wireless line - $40 per machine per month
Employee cost to service machine - $50 per machine per month
Repairs/maintenance - $500-$1000 per year, monthly cost of $40-$80 per machine per month
I work for a small ATM company and I know these costs to be accurate. This is $150 a month and does not include and administrative costs or processing costs paid to the big banks. Most of our machines average 200-300 transactions per month. Our best machine would make $0 before any administrative and banking costs putting every machine at a negative profit.
This sort of fee would put all small ATM companies out of business and cost tens of thousands of jobs. The only ATM’s left would be owned by big banks. Opposing this amendment is not supporting big banks it keeping people like me from losing their jobs.
Email/call/write these senators as soon as possible:
Tom Harkin: http://harkin.senate.gov/contact.cfm
Charles Schumer: http://schumer.senate.gov/
Bernie Sanders: http://sanders.senate.gov/contact/
As well as contact the Senate Banking Committee:
http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=CommitteeInformation.Membership
AND sign this petition from the ATM Industry Association (atmia.com). It takes just a couple of seconds to do : https://app.e2ma.net/app2/survey/34974/204010724/11aa649830/
Under "organization" you can put "concerned citizen," if you are not part of the industry.
REMEMBER, THIS WILL HAVE SERIOUS RAMIFICATIONS ON ALL CONSUMERS IF THIS IS PASSED. ATM's with a fee attached are a convenience - if you don't want to use it, you don't have to.
Oh wait that already failed in the USSR!
Aren't Iowan farmers heavily subsidized by the federal govt for corn and ehtanol (alternative fuel source which is not used)? So why should the American people have to pay for food? Especially corn, beef, soybeans and other goods and services from Iowa?
After all hasn't Iowa already made enough money?
What happened the last time the banks controlled something? Hint: your house is worth 33% less now.
What do you do for a living? i want to know so i can let sen harkin know to cap your industry into bankruptcy next.
Lawyers fees are way too high. The federal govt needs to step in and regualte what lawyers charge as to what is "fair" to the consumers
What about the business that YOU are in, they need to put caps on that so that YOU don't make too much money for they goods and services that YOU provide. Where does it end?
Where will all the employees of these companies find work? How will money be distributed in the economy if there is no where to pull that money out of an ATM? If I run out of money at a concert buying T-Shirts of my favorite band, and want to buy more random band stuff, where will I get cash? I can't, because the independent ATM companies no longer exist because they can't afford to stay in business with a $0.50 cap on ATM Fees. So this means that the T-shirt vendor at the concert can't sell his wares because I can't access any more money. I'm sorry, how does this help the economy?
Is this really supposed to be part of the economic stimulus bill? Because I don't see the economy being stimulated by this at all.
The most disturbing is that all these answers are seconds away with a Google search. Mr. Harkin could have gotten an answer why small business owners charge what they do for an ATM transaction. Instead of just thinking up bills that will get you a 30 second sound bite and fleeting praise from an uninformed public you could actually take the time and research the consequences of your bill. Maybe Mr. Harkin can come back and enlighten us on how to run our businesses on $.50 a transaction.