Kansas Credit Union Offers Surcharge Free ATM to All

WICHITA, Kan. – A credit union in Wichita, Kansas, has gained attention for not surcharging any body, member or not, at its newest ATM. The $390 million Boeing Wichita Credit Union hopes the news of an ATM which is surcharge-free to everyone might both drive traffic to the site of a future branch and bring it some additional members. “We already had the land for the new branch bought in east Derby,” explained Stan Cowan, marketing director for the credit union, “and while we waited for the new branch to be built we thought the land shouldn’t go to waste.” The new ATM has been on since March 3 and will not surcharge anyone for using it though, Cowan said, the cardholder’s institution will likely charge something. “That’s ok,” he said, “we like being the good guys.” Counting the new machine, the credit union has 26 ATMs deployed. Putting a surcharge-free ATM on the site of the future branch might both introduce the credit union’s members who already live in the Wichita suburb to the site of the new branch as well as take some of the pressure off the credit union’s existing branch on the western side of the community, Cowan explained. “The town of Derby has grown so much,” Cowan said. “There are a lot of things this ATM can do for us.” Cowan couldn’t say how many transactions the new machine had performed but doubted it could have been too many because the signage the machine needs will not arrive until March 11. “Right now I am not even sure how many people know it’s there,” Cowan said, though he expected the machine to get a lot of traffic once the signs were in place since it stands adjacent a busy road.