DENVER -- Stepping up an attack on high bank fees, Bellco Credit Union announced last week it has halted all noncustomer ATM charges.
The new no-fee policy applies to all users of the 64 ATMs in metro Denver, said Doug Ferraro, Bellco president/CEO, who maintains fee elimination clearly demonstrates that CUs "make a difference" among financial competitors.
Waiving of foreign fees and the loss of surcharge income, said the CU, can be absorbed without injury considering the "substantial offset from increased interchange income from additional usage."
Without naming Bank of America or Wachovia Bank, Ferraro in a CU press release alluded to the $3 ATM fee first initiated in July by BofA and which has stirred opposition and public comment from consumer groups
"We are the only ones around making our machines completely free to everybody," Ferraro told the Denver Post, which wrote about the new Bellco policy Oct. 16.
Ferraro was quoted as saying he hopes other institutions like banks might follow Bellco's lead noting that "given the $4 billion that foreign ATM fees generate, he isn't holding his breath."
"Everyone has felt the pinch of being somewhere, in need of cash and the only ATM charges a fee," said Ferraro. "According to the consumer reporting group, Bankrate.com, Americans waste $4 billion each year making these types of ATM withdrawals."
Ferraro said he hopes consumers "will remember Bellco" the next time they feel stuck in having to pay high ATM fees.
Both Colorado banks and CUs appeared so far to refrain from any comment on the Bellco action.
The Denver Post article did note that "about 99 percent of U.S. banking institutions charge noncustomers for using their machines. The average fee has gone from $1.64 to $1.78 in the past year, according to BankRate.com."
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