Big Four trio following CBA lead in axing ATM fees

IN A multi- million- dollar windfall for consumers, all of the Big Four banks have agreed to axe fees for customers of other banks.

As revealed exclusively by News Corp yesterday, the Commonwealth Bank was the first of the Big Four banks to announce it was ditching the $ 2 ATM fee for non- customers. Their decision was the catalyst for Westpac, then ANZ and NAB to announce yesterday afternoon they too would remove ATM fees completely.

Australians paid about $ 500 million in fees in the past year for withdrawals from ATMs owned by institutions other than their own, News Corp analysis revealed.

This is a major win for consumers and will deliver them savings running into hundreds of millions of dollars a year after a long and hard fight by consumer groups, including Choice, who have called out the banks for unfairly charging customers to access their own money.

Axing the charge means customers – regardless of who they bank with – will be able to access CBA, Westpac, ANZ, NAB, St George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne ATMs and not pay a cent.

CBA’s fee already applies but the other banks will take several weeks until fee- free ATM use is implemented.

ING already allows its customers to use any ATMs in Australia for free.

Consumer group Choice’s spokesman Tom Godfrey said this spelled the end of ATM fees.

“The banks are all desperate to show they are competing at a time when the Productivity Commission has the spotlight on them around a lack of competition.”