ATM, Overdraft Fees Hit Record Highs, Survey Shows
— -- If you're in a bind to get cash from an ATM, make sure the machine is in your banking network. Otherwise, you might have to fork over a fee of $4.35, which is the average cost of going outside your ATM network, according to Bankrate.com.
That average transaction fee is a new high in Bankrate.com's eighth consecutive annual analysis of banking fees.
The average fee for using an out-of-network ATM increased 5 percent over the last year; it increased 23 percent over the past five years, according Bankrate.com's report released today about checking account and ATM fees.
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Bankrate surveyed the 10 largest banks in each of 25 of the nation's biggest markets from July 10 to Aug. 6.
The average overdraft fee -- if you take out more money than you have in your checking account -- set a new record high for the 16th consecutive year: $32.74.
Bankrate.com said the percentage of non-interest checking accounts that are completely free has decreased to 38 percent. Five years ago, that percentage was 76 percent.
But there's good news for bank customers, said Greg McBride, Bankrate's chief financial analyst.
"Regardless how high the fees go, they are completely avoidable," McBride told ABC News.
