There’s nothing like the white hot rush of attempting to withdraw money while mentally tallying up the numerous $2.50 fees that have now resulted in your account containing substantially less than you assumed. Or the pain of hunting for your own ATM on a dark street just to access your own money, for free.
The banks are well aware these ‘foriegn ATM’ fees are among the key annoyances for customers, and in a rare display of solidarity all four big banks have announced they will axe them completely (plus, once CBA did it, the others kinda had to, didn’t they?).
This means that, as long as you stick to ATMs belonging to CBA, Westpac, ANZ and NAB – you’ll be saving money from your share of the 250 million withdrawals across all Australian banks by non-customers last financial year.
All four banks made back-patting statements, but considering Commonwealth went first, let’s hear from their group executive of retail banking services, Matt Comyn, who said: “We have been listening to consumer groups and our customers and understand that there’s a need to make changes that benefit all Australians, this is one of the steps we’re taking to make that happen.”
Good news for consumers, considering Australian financial institutions make $500 million a year from these fees.
