With the federal regulations posed on financial institutions, non-customers may soon find themselves sacrificing an additional $5 with ATM withdrawals. The WallStreet Journal’s Smart Money segment states that J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, for instance, will test $5 and $4 banking fees in the states of Illinois and Texas.

“The reality is that bank revenue is being squeezed by regulatory changes and the banks are going to be accounting for that in other areas,” said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

As you should know, most banks do not charge fees to customers retreiving money from their ATM. But you are charged fees when you use ATMs owned by another bank other than who you bank with. 

Rising ATM fees have long been a source of contention between the banking industry and consumer advocates. ATMs generated $7.1 billion in fees last year, according to consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Of that, banks collected roughly $3 billion from charging their customers for using another institution’s ATM. The operator of that ATM often levies another fee on the same customer, called a surcharge. Those surcharges averaged $2.33 in 2010, up from 89 cents in 1998, according to Bankrate.com.

The backlash to these additional fees will be prescedent, of course. In turn, this will only make customers begin to withdraw (from their own bank) more money at a time or begin to use their debit/credit card more often. Whichever method one decides to use, we’re sure it will be a wise one.

To read more, go to: ATM Fees Heading Higher – SmartMoney.com http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/rip-offs/atm-fees-heading-higher-1300301463020/#ixzz1HBMAyv1D