Piggy Banks

I hate paying ATM fees to have access to my own money. So this weekend, as I raced through the grocery store on Saturday afternoon, I said "no" to the cash back option as I swiped my debit card. "I'll go to through the bank's ATM to get some cash later," I thought.

But my day got away from me, and that evening I found myself at Raymond James stadium in Tampa to watch the Budweiser American Invitational Grand Prix series horse riding competition with my daughter and her friends, and had only $2 in my wallet.

That meant I had to break down and get money from the ATM at the stadium to buy dinner and something to drink. (They check your purse as you enter to make sure you don't smuggle in a bottle of water or snacks.)

I nearly gagged when I saw the ATM fee charged by BB&T bank was $3.75! Maybe I just don't use ATMs enough, but I was absolutely flabbergasted. Of course my bank will tack on it's own $1.50 foreign ATM charge. That means I paid $5.25 to withdraw my own cash.

Talk about a piggy bank!

It seems to me these banks are just asking for regulation. And what about the fact that its a financial planning firm that has paid to have its name on the stadium? I hope their planners warn their clients not to use the stadium's ATMs too often -- or they'll quickly wipe out any measly interest they may earn on their bank accounts.

What's the highest ATM fee you've seen? Do you agree with me that there should be a limit on these fees?

Gerri Detweiler – Personal finance author, radio host and credit expert. Gerri contributes budgeting, debt recovery and savings information online.

Comments

[Jim ~ mydebtblog.com]

The problem I have with ATM fees is the place you get money from charges one, and your own bank can charge another. The highest fees I have had was $5.50, $3.50 from their ATM and a $2 service charge from my bank. I'll just do the cash back option at the grocery store instead of the ATM!