Washington mutual will now be charging non-customers to withdraw money from their ATMs. This ends a five year period when they provided this service for free (unlike most other banks). The surcharge will be $1.50 in most states, and they will begin charging on November 17, 2005.
i already have accounts at wamu anyways but if you dont, its easy to open a checking account there with a minimal amount without charges. then as a wamu customer you could use wamu atms with other institutions' atm cards.
FatNYC
Ancient Member
posted: Nov. 9, 2005 @ 4:16p
Any FWers with some new ATM strategies? I have an ETrade account that supposedly refunds ATM fees, but I have never had a need to test it, given that there was always a Washington Mutual around. Now I am going to either have to test the ATM refund policy or find other no-fee machines. Ideas?
xpguy
Senior Member - 3K
posted: Nov. 9, 2005 @ 4:21p
"They made a big splash by repealing those charges, with the rationale that they would attract more new customers," said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
On the other hand, non-customers might be so used to using WAMU ATMs that they decide to open an account at WAMU just to avoid the $1.50 charge? Maybe this will attract more new customers?
ATM's aren't free to operate, they shouldn't be free to use if you don't do business with the bank. Good decision on WAMU's part.
calisoldier83
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 9, 2005 @ 5:23p
Good thing I have USAA! I think they reemburse me up to 10 ATM surcharges a month. Sorry everyone that has credit unions or unknown banks! agreenfield said: Washington mutual will now be charging non-customers to withdraw money from their ATMs. This ends a five year period when they provided this service for free (unlike most other banks). The surcharge will be $1.50 in most states, and they will begin charging on November 17, 2005.
jimbocobb said: ATM's aren't free to operate, they shouldn't be free to use if you don't do business with the bank. Good decision on WAMU's part.
For what it's worth, each time you use your card at an ATM, your bank pays a fee to the ATM owner for the use of the ATM. This is above and beyond any additional fee the ATM charges you directly.
WAMU was collecting these fees from your bank all along. They have now simply decided that they want to collect even more fees. There was nothing free about their service.
Slickdoobi
Addicted Member
posted: Nov. 9, 2005 @ 6:08p
How come no one has mentioned Allpoint ATM network? They are the largest surcharge free atm network, and they have 32,000 ATMs according to them.
Slickdoobi said: How come no one has mentioned Allpoint ATM network? They are the largest surcharge free atm network, and they have 32,000 ATMs according to them.
I see what their web site says, but it is a bit misleading. They are surcharge free only if the bank that issued your ATM card subcribes to the service. All others pay the usual surcharge at these ATMs.
uppchy
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 9, 2005 @ 8:46p
How do them figure it out whether you have account with them or not when you are using a non WM bank card at their ATM?
Alexlitov
Member
posted: Nov. 9, 2005 @ 8:59p
uppchy said: How do them figure it out whether you have account with them or not when you are using a non WM bank card at their ATM?
I have a USAA account, but I always used WAMU so that I didn't have to reconcile all of those $1.75's (you get dinged for the fee, then refunded at the end of the month). Oh Well.
FatNYC said: Any FWers with some new ATM strategies? I have an ETrade account that supposedly refunds ATM fees, but I have never had a need to test it, given that there was always a Washington Mutual around. Now I am going to either have to test the ATM refund policy or find other no-fee machines. Ideas?
Many Targets have e-trade ATM's.
euphemism
Member
posted: Nov. 9, 2005 @ 11:51p
One strategy that I've used in the past is to conduct a point-of-sale transaction at a business that allows you to request money back as part of the transaction. Even if I'm not planning to buy anything, I figure I can get a pack of gum cheaper than what the ATM fee would have cost me.
jeffe
Member
posted: Nov. 10, 2005 @ 2:52a
I just carry a free wamu acct with a small amount of money in it. This way if i ever need to use a wamu atm, i can just withdraw it from my small acct without having any fee's as oppose to my other bank.
The only downside of this is since i only use the card when i go to wamu atms, and i don't really ever need to go to wamu atms, i have forgotten my pin number.
anakinskywalker
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Nov. 10, 2005 @ 4:40a
FatNYC said: Any FWers with some new ATM strategies? I have an ETrade account that supposedly refunds ATM fees, but I have never had a need to test it, given that there was always a Washington Mutual around. Now I am going to either have to test the ATM refund policy or find other no-fee machines. Ideas?
I use Bank of Internet USA. www.bofi.com.
Up to $7 in ATM refunds per month.
Anakin Skywalker
smartbuys
New Member
posted: Nov. 10, 2005 @ 7:24a
Compass Bank offers all its checking customers unlimited ATM surcharge rebates!
I bank with Compass and one of the perks for banking with them is that they will remiburse me on all ATM fees I incur while using other bank's ATMs. The only thing you have to do is mail in the receipts. It is a pain, but you don't have to pay for the convenience of using other bank's machines. I get abck around $10-18 a month back in rebate fees.
Compass Bank is located in Alabama, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona.Compass Bank
Thanks
dagger007
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 10, 2005 @ 7:36a
smartbuys said: Compass Bank offers all its checking customers unlimited ATM surcharge rebates!
I bank with Compass and one of the perks for banking with them is that they will remiburse me on all ATM fees I incur while using other bank's ATMs. The only thing you have to do is mail in the receipts. It is a pain, but you don't have to pay for the convenience of using other bank's machines. I get abck around $10-18 a month back in rebate fees.
Compass Bank is located in Alabama, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona.Compass Bank
Thanks
Commerce Bank does the same thing. I think you need to maintain 2500 in your checking account.
daveland
Senior Member
posted: Nov. 10, 2005 @ 10:32a
Yes Commerce does it (and painlessly - unlike Compass) but remember you earn no interest on that $2,500 - so factor that in to how much you really use other banks ATMs to figure if you will save more with the fee free ATMs than you would have earned in interest after taxes. Assuming a current 4% yield on $2,500 for one year is $100 in interest and an avg. 30% tax rate you need to get more than $70 in ATM rebates over the year to break even. Probably worth it for most but maybe not all if you have a bank with ATMs pretty much wherever you go.
smartbuys
New Member
posted: Nov. 10, 2005 @ 10:44a
Yes. Mailing in the rebates is a pain but I don't have to maintain a min balance to get them. Commerce requires $2,500 min bal to get the same unlimited feature. I can then take the $2.5K and park it in a higher earning account.
I think because Compass is limited to 6 states they need to reduce their balance requirements to get more takers. IMO
Wawa's have free ATM's in the PA/NJ area. That is where I withdraw funds from Presidential Checking account.
UFB Direct also refunds a limited number of ATM fees.
----------------
To me it seems that the easiest solution is to NOT use an ATM machine when you are "out and about".
If you find yourself in REPEAT situations where you NEED access to cash "on the spot" one should really evaluate your spending patterns and habits.
I personally only "tap mac" about once a month for $60 or so. Why? I use my credit cards for everything, all the time. If I goto Atlantic City (insert destination of choice) I always withdraw the $XXX I plan to spend from my local bank.
zc8 said: Old story. This is almost true for all banks. What's an old story? That WAMU is now going to charge? No, it is a NEW story. They were not prior to this.
EugeneV
Ancient Member
posted: Nov. 14, 2005 @ 9:57p
QuickCheck still has free ATMs (operated by PNC in the nearest one).
SeattleNative
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Nov. 19, 2005 @ 4:50p
Allpoint ATM Network is IMPOSES SURCHARGES ON NON-CUSTOMERS. Describing themselves as Surcharge-Free is untruthful, deceptive, and misleading.
They are an "ATM Alliance" of affiliate banks.
As for Washington Mutual, they were the last major institution offering genuine Surcharge-Free ATM access to all users.
Most credit unions now impose non-customer surcharges, though they have created various "ATM Alliance" networks with other credit unions.
IMHO, Congress should REQUIRE credit unions which operate ATMs to provide Surcharge-Free access to all ATM users, given their tax-exempt non-profit cooperative status.
I also believe the U.S. Postal Service should offer Surcharge-Free ATM services to Americans at post offices. If the ATM services receive the kind of heavy transaction volume that Washington Mutual had, the bank interchange fees received by the ATM operator should more than cover the amortized ATM expense for the transaction volume.
If only our U.S. Congress were listening to ideas like this......
HJM
Member
posted: Dec. 8, 2005 @ 12:00a
FatNYC said: Any FWers with some new ATM strategies? I have an ETrade account that supposedly refunds ATM fees, but I have never had a need to test it, given that there was always a Washington Mutual around. Now I am going to either have to test the ATM refund policy or find other no-fee machines. Ideas? Open the USAA checking & savings accounts. They reimburse up to $15 per month on ATM surcharge. Their savings interest rate is up to 3.26%. And you can withdraw free from PNC's ATM.
HJM.
OLEOLEOLEO
Member
posted: Dec. 8, 2005 @ 12:59a
SeattleNative said: IMHO, Congress should REQUIRE credit unions which operate ATMs to provide Surcharge-Free access to all ATM users, given their tax-exempt non-profit cooperative status.
That's unfair to credit unions. Why not make surcharge free ATMs a condition of federal deposit insurance?
plloopp
Senior Member
posted: Dec. 8, 2005 @ 1:44a
OLEOLEOLEO said: SeattleNative said: IMHO, Congress should REQUIRE credit unions which operate ATMs to provide Surcharge-Free access to all ATM users, given their tax-exempt non-profit cooperative status.
That's unfair to credit unions. Why not make surcharge free ATMs a condition of federal deposit insurance?
Don't look to Washington for any help. When the people of the State of California outlawed ATM surcharges a few years ago, the federal government intervened to overturn the law.
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