Consumers Switch Banks To Avoid Paying ATM Fees.

A significant percentage of consumers will switch their accounts to banks with conveniently located ATMs to avoid paying surcharge fees, according to survey scheduled for release later this month by Synergistics Research Corp.

Some 67% of consumers use their banks' ATMs to avoid fees, the research shows. Of those consumers, roughly 6%, or one in 20, would change banks to avoid paying fees altogether, according to "The Outlook for ATMs." Synergistics plans to release the report Oct. 31.

Consumers who would switch banks because of higher fees belong to financial institutions lacking convenient ATM locations. That forces cardholders to use competitors' ATMs, says William McCracken, CEO of Atlanta-based Synergistics. "Now that increases are coming, they are saying this is too much and are going to make a switch," he says. More than 50% of consumers use other banks' ATMs if necessary.

"Any surcharging is a negative to consumers," McCracken says. "Most ATM users, around 75%, report they generally use their own institution's ATMs because they want to avoid surcharging." In a sense, the industry has modified consumer behavior, he says, because consumers now specifically and deliberately look for their banks' ATMs.

BofA Provides Inspiration

Bank of America's recent surcharge increase to $3 from $2 inspired surcharge-related questions in Synergistics' online survey of more than 1,000 consumers, says McCracken. Synergistics collected data for the survey in August.

Christopher Deville, finance executive for checking and debit at Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA, said Oct. 4 at SourceMedia's ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Carlsbad, Calif., that the latest ATM-surcharge increase is intended to ...