NDP calls for end to fees on ATM withdrawals
Patrick_Ross @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 10:55 pm
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... hub=Canada
$1:
NDP calls for end to fees on ATM withdrawals
Canadian Press
TORONTO -- Charging people to use automatic teller machines from a bank other than their own in order to access their own cash is a rip-off that should be outlawed, New Democrat Leader Jack Layton said Thursday.
In what Canada's big banks dismissed as little more than a display of ignorant rhetoric, Layton said the $19 billion profits the financial institutions made last year should be enough to waive ATM convenience fees.
"We believe it's gouging when a person comes up and they want $40 or $60 of their cash and a bank is charging them $1.50 or $2, $2.50," Layton said during an election-style announcement on a Toronto street corner.
"That's a rate of payment which is very, very high - and unfair."
New Democrats will bring forward proposed amendments to the Bank Act, which is currently under review, to prevent banks from charging fees to customers who withdraw, deposit or transfer their own money through bank machines, Layton said.
He estimated banks make $420 million from charging people to withdraw cash from ATMs.
"Ordinary families work hard for their money," Layton said as he braved the city's coldest temperatures so far this year to stage a news conference at an outdoor bank machine.
"If they want to take a few dollars out to go to the grocery store, the banks shouldn't be keeping $1.50 or $2 or any of that money."
Layton's comments drew scorn from the banks.
Installing and maintaining ATM networks costs millions of dollars - part of of the $4.4 billion the country's six largest banks spent on technology in 2005, according to figures from the Canadian Bankers Association.
"This is just typical NDP bank bashing and political rhetoric being made without a full understanding of the facts," Raymond Protti, president and CEO of the association, said in a statement.
"He should realize that services are not delivered for free: there is a cost to providing banking services."
The association, which speaks for 54 domestic chartered banks and foreign bank subsidiaries and branches, said customers normally pay no ATM fees if they use their own bank's machines.
Allowing clients from other financial institutions to use the machines is a convenience that a bank's own clients shouldn't have to subsidize, the group said.
Layton wasn't buying that line.
"What's convenient about paying $1.50 when you take $40 of your own money out of their bank?" Layton said.
"They should able to get access to their money without having to pay the banks to do so."
He said British banks did away with the charges six years ago under pressure from consumers, but the Canadian banks countered that the costs are simply recovered in different ways.
Two recent polls suggest popular support for the New Democrats has been bleeding to the Liberals and Green Party.
Asked if the announcement was an attempt to reconnect with "average working family, seniors (and) young people" in light of the slipping support, Layton responded with a curt, "No."
Canadian Press
TORONTO -- Charging people to use automatic teller machines from a bank other than their own in order to access their own cash is a rip-off that should be outlawed, New Democrat Leader Jack Layton said Thursday.
In what Canada's big banks dismissed as little more than a display of ignorant rhetoric, Layton said the $19 billion profits the financial institutions made last year should be enough to waive ATM convenience fees.
"We believe it's gouging when a person comes up and they want $40 or $60 of their cash and a bank is charging them $1.50 or $2, $2.50," Layton said during an election-style announcement on a Toronto street corner.
"That's a rate of payment which is very, very high - and unfair."
New Democrats will bring forward proposed amendments to the Bank Act, which is currently under review, to prevent banks from charging fees to customers who withdraw, deposit or transfer their own money through bank machines, Layton said.
He estimated banks make $420 million from charging people to withdraw cash from ATMs.
"Ordinary families work hard for their money," Layton said as he braved the city's coldest temperatures so far this year to stage a news conference at an outdoor bank machine.
"If they want to take a few dollars out to go to the grocery store, the banks shouldn't be keeping $1.50 or $2 or any of that money."
Layton's comments drew scorn from the banks.
Installing and maintaining ATM networks costs millions of dollars - part of of the $4.4 billion the country's six largest banks spent on technology in 2005, according to figures from the Canadian Bankers Association.
"This is just typical NDP bank bashing and political rhetoric being made without a full understanding of the facts," Raymond Protti, president and CEO of the association, said in a statement.
"He should realize that services are not delivered for free: there is a cost to providing banking services."
The association, which speaks for 54 domestic chartered banks and foreign bank subsidiaries and branches, said customers normally pay no ATM fees if they use their own bank's machines.
Allowing clients from other financial institutions to use the machines is a convenience that a bank's own clients shouldn't have to subsidize, the group said.
Layton wasn't buying that line.
"What's convenient about paying $1.50 when you take $40 of your own money out of their bank?" Layton said.
"They should able to get access to their money without having to pay the banks to do so."
He said British banks did away with the charges six years ago under pressure from consumers, but the Canadian banks countered that the costs are simply recovered in different ways.
Two recent polls suggest popular support for the New Democrats has been bleeding to the Liberals and Green Party.
Asked if the announcement was an attempt to reconnect with "average working family, seniors (and) young people" in light of the slipping support, Layton responded with a curt, "No."
I suppose this is what you call a cheap attempt to buy votes.
Ripcat @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:15 pm
Banks were loving it when ATMs first came out because they could cut back on tellers and bank hours and saved lots of money on tellers' wages. Now ATMs are a costly expense...
Everyone not happy with fees should go into the bank and express their displeasure with these fees to the manager and then go to a teller and withdraw $10. Go next door and buy a pack of gum. Return to the bank and have a teller deposit the change back into your account. This may be a quicker way to get these fees dropped.
Banff @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:28 pm
yup it has nothing to do with cost of technology ...its cheap efficient and keeps better records than people and cost less to maintain than an employee yet expensive ...just like all expensiver <I like that word ...technology .
I pay notta , zero , zip , nil, fees and use the card alot . Its nice 
RUEZ @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:30 pm
Banff Banff:
I pay notta , zero , zip , nil, fees and use the card alot . Its nice
Ya you just have to shop around now, there are banks that want your business and will give you incentives.
hwacker @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:33 pm
I'm lucky, if i keep +20k in my account they don't charge me $24.00 a month to use MY money.
Banks are scum.
Wada @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:34 pm
I've always been the type of fella who enjoyed the momentary pleasure of having just the right teller waiting on me. Even when it was not the teller I might have been hoping for, at the worst, it did seem better than...well, some ATM machine. So, that and the dislike of the banks attitude re their employees I decided with the introduction of ATM's to avoid using them and satisfying the banks only for profit 'nature".
I'm such a REBEL, eh! 
RUEZ @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:41 pm
hwacker hwacker:
I'm lucky, if i keep +20k in my account they don't charge me $24.00 a month to use MY money.
Banks are scum.
my TD account let's me bank for free with atleast 3k in my account.
Banks are scum.
hwacker @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:46 pm
RUEZ RUEZ:
hwacker hwacker:
I'm lucky, if i keep +20k in my account they don't charge me $24.00 a month to use MY money.
Banks are scum.
my TD account let's me bank for free with atleast 3k in my account.Banks are scum.
This is my business account. I do about 200 transactions a month.
I caught those fuckers double dipping on one of my accounts for 7 years. It was like 56 a month. It took me 2 years to get back $5200. They tried every trick in the book. It's funny how fast they cave when you threaten to leave.
RUEZ @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:52 pm
hwacker hwacker:
RUEZ RUEZ:
hwacker hwacker:
I'm lucky, if i keep +20k in my account they don't charge me $24.00 a month to use MY money.
Banks are scum.
my TD account let's me bank for free with atleast 3k in my account.Banks are scum.
This is my business account. I do about 200 transactions a month.
RUEZ @ Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:55 pm
lily lily:
RUEZ RUEZ:
hwacker hwacker:
I'm lucky, if i keep +20k in my account they don't charge me $24.00 a month to use MY money.
Banks are scum.
my TD account let's me bank for free with atleast 3k in my account.Banks are scum.
I think mine is free with a $2000 balance.
I actually had that once.
dog77_1999 @ Fri Jan 26, 2007 12:47 am
wow, just have to have 1k for my bank to wave the fee. Checking is free.
ReliableIntelligence @ Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:44 am
If you're going to do a significant amount of business with them, banks will bend over backwards to get your business.
If you actually talk to someone about creating an account, you may also find that they have a surprising amount of leeway in terms of what kind of deal they can give you. You just have to think of the standard accounts as being like a 'starting offer'.
RUEZ @ Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:47 am
ReliableIntelligence ReliableIntelligence:
If you're going to do a significant amount of business with them, banks will bend over backwards to get your business.
If you actually talk to someone about creating an account, you may also find that they have a surprising amount of leeway in terms of what kind of deal they can give you. You just have to think of the standard accounts as being like a 'starting offer'.
It pays to be vigilant and look out for your own interests. I had an account at a credit union, and was paying 25 bucks a month in fees. Two years down the road the bank says "oh by the way we have an account that might be better for you at 12 bucks a month". Thanks for nothing. Now I shop around.
If you actually talk to someone about creating an account, you may also find that they have a surprising amount of leeway in terms of what kind of deal they can give you. You just have to think of the standard accounts as being like a 'starting offer'.
bootlegga @ Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:44 am
I used to have an account at the Royal Bank with zero fees. When I added someone to my acocunt, they changed it and started charging me fees. Of course it was in font size 2 print on page 14 of a 20 page document (of something like that). No matter what I did, I couldn't get back to my old bank account with zero fees (it had been open since 1985), so after them refusing to refund fees or make things better, I paid off my VISA, switched my mortgage to another bank and closed my account.
I will never bank with those SOBs again
Ripcat @ Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:51 am
bootlegga bootlegga:
I used to have an account at the Royal Bank with zero fees. When I added someone to my acocunt, they changed it and started charging me fees. Of course it was in font size 2 print on page 14 of a 20 page document (of something like that). No matter what I did, I couldn't get back to my old bank account with zero fees (it had been open since 1985), so after them refusing to refund fees or make things better, I paid off my VISA, switched my mortgage to another bank and closed my account.
I will never bank with those SOBs again
I will never bank with those SOBs again
OK, but don't forget to buy their stock. Easy money there as with all major Canadian banks.