YOUR MONEY How To Save Money On ATM Fees (NAPSA)—ATMfees can really add up. A recent survey found that Americans spent about $4.2 billion on these surcharges in 2007 and will spend an estimated $4.4 billion in 2008. Since financial institutions and ATM owners started surcharging in 1996, these fees, which are used to cover the cost of providing and maintaining ATMs, have steadily climbed. The current average ATM fee is $1.78, with the most common fee being $2. Some banks charge as much as $3. With 99 percent of financial institutions charging ATM fees, they can be hard to avoid, but not impossible. To help you save money, here are a few tips: Only withdraw money from your own financial institution’s ATM, so you’re not hit with a surcharge. If you regularly have to withdraw money from a machine that will charge you, take out more moneyless often ($400 once every two weeks instead of $200 a week) so you save a transaction fee. Switch to a financial institution that offers a large number of surcharge-free ATMs. For example, many credit unions in the country now have access to the nation’s largest network of surcharge-free ATMs. With 45,000 ATMs across all 50 states, the Credit Union 24 ATM network enables credit unions to offer consumers a great way to avoid surcharges and save money. Credit union members can also use Credit Union 24’s nationwide point-of-sale network to pay for Credit unions are attracting new members thanks to a program that waives ATM fees at 45,000 locations. purchases and get cash back with their debit cards at hundreds of thousands of retail locations, including most major national retailers and local merchants. The benefits of joining a credit union don’t stop with ATM access. Credit unions are not-for-profit cooperatives, which meansthey are economic democracies and work for their members’ best financial interests. Because credit union profits go back into the credit union, credit unions typically have higher interest rates on investment products and lower rates on loans. And contrary to popularbelief, nearly anyone can be a credit union member. In fact, according to a recent survey, one in three Americansis a credit union member. Community-chartered credit unions’ memberships are defined by geographic regions rather than by employers or associations and anyone living or working in the region can generally become a credit union member. For more information, visit www.cu24.com.
