Study: Atlanta has 2nd highest ATM fees in US - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Study: Atlanta has 2nd highest ATM fees in US

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ATLANTA -

Atlanta has some of the highest out-of-network ATM fees in the country.

According to a BankRate.com survey, banks charge their Atlanta customers an average fee of $1.95 to use another financial institution's ATM. Only customers in Philadelphia pay more.

N'Jeri Nantambu-Bellmoved to Atlanta from Michigan last year and found herself paying a much higher out-of-network fee than she did there.

"They're banks and I guess they can do what they want to do, but it's not fair to the consumer," said Nantambu-Bellmoved.

Dr. Rajeev Dhawan, the director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, says it's all about supply and demand.

"We were the epicenter of all that was wrong with the banking system," said Dhawan.

Dhawan says with more than 80 banks failing in Georgia since 2008, there are fewer financial institutions to compete for your business.

"It's not like five years ago when all these banks wanted your business so it was free checking and they would pick up your cost. But now the banks don't have the money, and they also know there are not too many competitors so you're not going to go anywhere else," said Dhawan.

That means exorbitant fees for bank customers.

BankRate.com also reports that Atlanta has some of the highest checking account overdraft fees in the country, coming in at third with an average penalty of $32.70.

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