ATM: Australia approves no-interchange-fee arrangement between operators
It might seem a little odd to ATM users from other countries, but Australia's ATM networks don't have arrangements between banks to use each others' machines for free. That is changing for some smaller banks but it took an approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to make it happen.
Suncorp-Metway and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank have agreed to not charge each other's cardholders a fee for transactions at ATMs they own - and the ACCC has agreed that the arrangement is pro-competitive.
ACCC says "Under reforms to Australia's ATM system introduced in March last year customers are now charged directly by ATM operators for transactions. Most banks do not charge their own cardholders for transactions...The ACCC has previously authorised separate agreements between members of the rediATM network and members of the Feesmart network not to charge each other's cardholders for transactions undertaken at any ATM within their network... The ACCC considers the agreement between Suncorp and Bendigo Bank not to charge each other's cardholders for ATM transactions will be pro-competitive, assisting to ensure that they are not at a competitive disadvantage to institutions with larger ATM networks."
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