Banks and mutuals not responsible for ATM direct charging
Following the recent uproar about the new ATM direct charging rules that will be introduced on 3 March, CUA (Credit Union Australia) Acting CEO Rob Nicholls has said people are being misled about who is responsible for the new system.
Mr Nicholls said it was the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) that was enforcing the new regime.
“Rather than banks paying each other a fee every time a customer uses another institution's machine, ATM owners will now charge this fee directly to the cardholder,” he said.
“The aim is to ensure transparency as ATM fees must now be disclosed upfront, giving the cardholder the option of cancelling the transaction if they don’t want to pay the fee.
“It’s important for people to realise that the new system is out of the control of financial institutions, and that we are simply adhering to new legislation, as directed by the RBA.”
However, Mr Nicholls wants to make it clear that not all financial institutions will be double-dipping their customers.
“The difference between CUA and the banks is that we have always given our members the freedom to use any ATM without penalty,” he said.
“While direct charging means that we can no longer control what fees other banks charge to our members for using their ATM, we certainly won’t go making it worse by hitting them up with a second ‘disloyalty’ fee.
“There seems to be no basis for banks to justify charging a second disloyalty fee to customers who have already had to pay a direct charge fee, other than to turn a profit,” he said.
Mr Nicholls has provided the following tips for avoiding bank fees:
- Do all of your banking with the financial institution of which you are a customer.
- Instead of using a regular cash card, ask your financial institution for a Visa Debit card for unlimited free EFTPOS transactions when you press the credit button, provided the merchant does not apply a surcharge.
- Use BPAY as this is a simpler and free way of paying bills and can be accessed via phone or internet banking.
- Transfer funds online as transfers between your own and other people’s accounts, no matter what bank they are with, are usually completely free through online banking.
- Check your account balance online or over the phone instead of at the ATM, as some banks count ATM account balances as transactions, and will charge you a direct fee.
- Avoid dishonour fees by ensuring you always have sufficient cleared funds in your account to cover withdrawals and debits. To have a safety net most financial institutions now offer an overdraft facility for any unexpected expenses.
