That's borderline criminal. Look for a better bank, there's no reason to be hit with such fees.

I have accounts at four banks and none of them charge me fees for getting cash out of a different banks ATM. The ATM will show a default message that it is charging a fee, but it never actually gets charged.

I believe there is some limit to how many withdrawals a month they'll do for free, but I've never reached it (and I mostly use cash for privacy).

You’re 100% right that I need a new bank. I spent more than an hour on the phone this morning with them and by the end, cryptocurrency was looking pretty good…

I’m going to do an experiment and actually take cash out of some different banks’ machines then check my account and see how much I actually paid. That’s a neat idea - if I don’t actually get charged the fees, that completely changes the game.

Thanks again - I enjoyed that a lot!!

But isn't that actually pretty comparable? You don't see the few percent extra you're paying with the credit card because it gets hidden in the price. It's probably not all that different than what you're paying to get cash from an out-of-network ATM (I just get cash back at POS).

To be fair, usually the cash buyer also gets screwed into paying for the convenience of everyone else using credit cards. For a while that was actually written into the merchant agreement, to favor credit card usage and ensure hefty profits for Visa & MC.

(This is very pedantic.)

When I pay with a card, I actually have a couple of options. We use the terms ‘debit’ and ‘credit’. I can pull out a credit card and pay for something with someone else’s money. Or pull out a debit card and pay with my own. Debit comes directly out of my bank account and they’re physically different cards, with different chips, PIN numbers etc.

The experiences are identical for me, but dramatically different for poor merchants. The cards are almost identical, but if I use my credit card the merchant gets toasted. If I use my debit card, they’re only lightly browned.

So, long story short but you’re right. It’s the same. I don’t notice because merchants have to pass on the cost.

Thanks friend - this was interesting.

I don't know how high it is. I've seen various numbers thrown around but it's hard to tell what's accurate and what's not. What is clear, however, is that the cost is non-zero.

If we split the difference (30 minutes) and factor in my big hourly wage ($7 an hour), it’s at around $3.50 a business day per location. That’s not huge money, but still works out to close to $1,300 a year for one location. Multiple that by a few million and it’s a serious cost.

Great comment.