Greens red-faced on ATM fees ban

A second stab by the Greens at detonating ATM fees charged by banks ended in a second defeat yesterday.

Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie was the only MP to join the Greens' Adam Bandt in a vote in the House of Representatives on the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Payment Surcharges) Bill 2015.

Bandt, in a speech on the bill last week, put ATM unit costs in Australia at 77 cents, inferring decent margins on the most common price point of A$2 and whopping margins at the higher price points now permeating the industry. Bandt said these now reached $3.

Consumers are taking some control of the issue by avoiding cash or accessing it in other ways. As a result, ATM withdrawals that incur a fee are on the wane.

The Reserve Bank of Australia put consumer savings from this shift at $60 million.

The Greens banking spokesperson allowed that "it may be difficult - and we accept this - to limit the fees that private operators are charging." His bill aimed to end the ATM fees of banks only.

Chief executive of the Australian Bankers' Association Steven Münchenberg in a media release yesterday said: "Unlike the exorbitant figure claimed by the Greens of how much banks make in ATM fees, fees at banks' ATMs don't cover the cost of running the ATMs."