To find your ATM fees per year, search twelve months of bank statements for every fee tied to a cash withdrawal and add them up. Count two kinds separately: the fee your own bank charges for using another bank's machine, and the surcharge the machine's owner adds. Together they often cost more per withdrawal than people guess.
Why does one ATM withdrawal carry two fees?
One withdrawal can carry two fees because two businesses are involved. The machine's owner charges a surcharge for letting you use it, and your own bank may charge a separate out-of-network fee for a withdrawal outside its network. The first is usually folded into the withdrawal amount, and the second appears as its own row.
That folding is why the surcharge is easy to miss. Take $60 out at a corner store machine with a $3.50 surcharge and the statement may show a single debit of $63.50. Your bank's own fee, if it charges one, follows as a separate line, often on the same day.
The machine has to warn you first. Regulation E section 1005.16 requires an ATM operator that charges a fee to tell you the amount on the screen or on paper before you are committed to paying it, and it may charge only if you choose to continue. That screen is the last moment to walk away for free.
Finding ATM fee rows across a year of statements
ATM fee rows are found by searching for the words banks use and for withdrawals that end in odd cents. Your bank's fee usually has its own description. The owner's surcharge hides inside the withdrawal, so a $63.50 or $82.95 cash debit is the clue.
Search the description column for these terms, then check each match:
- "ATM FEE", "NON-NETWORK", "OUT OF NETWORK" or "FOREIGN ATM" for your bank's charge.
- "ATM WITHDRAWAL" or "CASH WD" for the withdrawal itself.
- A withdrawal amount that is not a round multiple of $10 or $20, which usually means a surcharge was added.
For the surcharge, subtract the round cash amount you took from the debit. A debit of $43.00 at a machine that dispenses $20 notes means $40 in cash and $3 in fees.
Some descriptions are only a terminal code and a town name. If a cash row is impossible to place, the guide on identifying an unknown charge on a bank statement explains how to trace it.
Twelve statements are a lot of rows to scroll. Converting the PDFs to a spreadsheet lets you filter the description column once for the whole year. CheapBankConvert, which is getting ready to open, does that for a few dollars a statement, with a bundle price for a stack; see the early prices on the homepage.
A worked ATM fees per year tally
A worked tally puts every out-of-network withdrawal on one row with its two fees, then totals each fee type for the year. The values below are made up for illustration, for someone whose bank charges $2.50 per out-of-network withdrawal.
| Quarter | Out-of-network withdrawals | Cash taken | Owner surcharges | Bank fees | Total fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan to Mar | 7 | $340 | $22.50 | $17.50 | $40.00 |
| Apr to Jun | 5 | $260 | $16.00 | $12.50 | $28.50 |
| Jul to Sep | 9 | $420 | $29.75 | $22.50 | $52.25 |
| Oct to Dec | 6 | $300 | $19.50 | $15.00 | $34.50 |
| Year | 27 | $1,320 | $87.75 | $67.50 | $155.25 |
Two numbers come out of this. The yearly total, $155.25 in the example, is what the habit costs. The cost per $100 withdrawn is more telling: $155.25 divided by $13.20 is about $11.76 in fees for every $100 of cash. Few other things charge a fee that steep.
Fees creep upward too. If a machine you use often shows a higher surcharge in autumn than in spring, the price went up, and the same row-by-row check described for a subscription price increase caught on statements applies to ATM surcharges.
Which ways to get cash cost less than an out-of-network ATM?
Cheaper ways to get cash usually involve staying inside your bank's network or getting cash with a purchase. The right one depends on where you are and how your account works, so check your bank's terms before relying on any of them.
- Your bank's own machines, or its partner network. Many banks list partner ATMs in their app. A withdrawal there often costs nothing.
- Cash back at a checkout. Some shops give cash back with a debit card purchase. Some charge a small fee for it, so read the receipt.
- Fewer, larger withdrawals. Fees are charged per visit, not per dollar. Two visits a month instead of six cuts the fee count by two thirds.
- ATM fee rebates. Some accounts refund out-of-network fees up to a monthly limit. Read the terms to see whether owner surcharges are included.
- Paying by card where you used to pay cash. For many small purchases, this removes the need for the withdrawal altogether.
ATM statement rows that are not ordinary withdrawal fees
Some cash rows look like ATM fees but follow different rules. Treat each of the following separately in the tally, because the fix for each is different from the fix for a surcharge.
- Credit card cash advances. Taking cash with a credit card usually triggers a cash advance fee and interest from the same day, and appears on the card statement, not the checking statement.
- Foreign transaction fees. A withdrawal abroad can add a percentage fee on top of both ATM fees.
- Rebate credits. A refund of fees shows as a credit, often at month end. Subtract it from the yearly total.
- Balance inquiries. Some machines charge just for checking a balance.
Cash spent for work deserves its own note. If you pay for fuel or parking with ATM cash and plan to claim the actual car expenses deduction from statement totals, keep the receipts, because a cash withdrawal alone does not show what the money bought.