Bulletin – March 2011 The ATM Reforms – New Evidence from Survey and Market Data Abstract
Following the introduction of direct charging in March 2009, ATM pricing has become more transparent and flexible. Cardholders continue to respond to the clearer price signals by changing their cash withdrawal behaviour to avoid paying direct charges, and newly available data indicate that behaviour varies across age groups and geographic locations. For the small proportion of transactions that do incur a direct charge, flexibility in ATM pricing has led to a distinct pattern in these charges across different types of ATM locations. Variations in business models between ATM owners mean that most consumers have access to a large number of ATMs on which they pay no direct charge, while it remains possible for ATMs to be profitably deployed in high-cost or low-volume locations.