Chase tests $5 ATM charge

Sorry, but charging customers to access to their own cash has got to be the beginning of the end for cash transactions. Consider the options: use a contactless card to 'tap and go' or be charged to access your own money? I take my debit card to the pub these days rather than use cash and guess what; it's quick, nobody minds and there's no charge attached.

You're not going to be able to get a decent round of drinks in London with a £15 Transaction Ceiling...

I've had a contactless card for three weeks and still haven't found anywhere to use it - many of the merchant I used to visit that had contactless terminals have had them curiously removed (Starbucks and Krispy Kreme).

Banks, after all, are a business at the end of the day and every business needs to be profitable. Banks in the UK have all signed an agreement to allow free use on ATM's while charging ridiculous overdraft rates. It all comes down to smart money management, you are only charged for convenience, if you can plan ahead (which is indeed difficult) you can avoid the charges. If you are hopeless with your money planning, then why shouldn’t you be charged for it?

Try living in Australia where direct charging has been around for the past two years and fees of $3-5 are not uncommon. These direct fees can be avoided of course if financial institutions co-operate and establish their own sub-network which provides a fee free service to all of their customers. The rediATM service which includes National Australia Bank, Bank of Queensland, the Credit Unions and Building Societies is now the second largest ATM fleet in Australia. It demonstrates how consumers can benefit when banks co-operate rather than compete.

The Indian example suggests that it often takes a regulator to make banks cooperate for the benefit of the customer. Previously, home bank ATM cash withdrawals were free but alien bank ones attracted INR 25 (around 0.6 US$) fee. RBI, the banking regulator of India, stepped in a few months ago and stipulated that the latter should be free as well (to customers), with the cost being recovered by the alien bank from the home bank. Of course, it's another question whether and when regulators should intervene...