ATM fee

An ATM fee is the charge for withdrawing cash from an automated teller machine. Two separate charges can stack on the same withdrawal: a surcharge the ATM’s own operator sets for letting an outside cardholder use its machine, and a separate fee the cardholder’s own bank or credit union may add for using a machine outside its network — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes that both can apply to a single transaction. US rules require the ATM to disclose any operator surcharge, and its exact amount, on the machine’s screen or a printed notice before the withdrawal completes, and the cardholder can cancel without being charged if the fee shown is too high. Using an ATM inside the cardholder’s own bank network, or a fee-free partner network, is the most reliable way to avoid the operator-side charge.

See also: How to avoid ATM fees in Mexico for a country-specific walkthrough.