The latest figures on ATM usage show that consumers are now using "foreign" ATMs as much as they did before the Reserve Bank introduced changes to the way transaction fees are charged in 2009.RBA figures show that in August consumers withdrew A$11.6 billion in cash from ATMs. Two-thirds of that (63.6 per cent) was withdrawn from ATMs operated by the consumers' own financial institutions.The ATM direct charging regime, where the owner of the ATM charges the user directly for the service, was introduced in March 2009. The charge is displayed on the ATM before the transaction is completed and the user can cancel without charge.Previously, there was an interchange fee charged by the ATM owner and paid by the consumer's financial institution. In most cases, that charge was passed on to customers and would show up in account statements.In making the change, the Reserve Bank wanted to make the cost of using a "foreign" ATM explicit and give consumers the opportunity to avoid it.In February 2009, a month before the introduction of ATM direct charging, 62.5 per cent of cash withdrawn from ATMs was withdrawn from machines operated by the consumer's financial institution.A year after the direct charging regime took effect, in March 2010, the proportion of "own bank" ATM withdrawals had risen to 67 per cent, and a year after that, in March 2011, it was 68.1 per cent.But since then the proportion of "own bank" withdrawals has fallen back to its pre-direct charging level.In November last year, the Australian Bankers Association issued a media release saying "savvy consumers avoid ATM fees", a claim based on the fact that "since 2009 the number of transactions where a customer uses an ATM which is not owned by their bank has fallen by 26 per cent."This is misleading. All ATM transaction numbers have fallen since 2009 but the proportion of "foreign" bank transactions, compared with "own bank" transactions, is right where it was in 2009.The RBA's price signal has not had any impact and may need to be reviewed.This issue came up in the Big Bank chief executive hearings before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics last week. Labor MP Matt Keogh wanted to know how banks costed their ATM services and whether non-bank users were subsidising the free service offered to customers.Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer said it cost around 20 cents to process a transaction for a customer but he could not say what the additional cost was for processing a "foreign" transaction.Hartzer rejected the suggestion that the cost of running the bank's ATM network was paid for by non-Westpac customers.The conclusion from the hearings was that banks set charges for "foreign" ATM transactions, which are around $2.50 on average, without having any idea how they arrive at those charges.If that was happening with credit cards the Reserve Bank would step in.