Consumers' preference for using their own bank's ATM, which was prompted by the switch to direct charging for ATM transactions in 2009, has been sustained.Reserve Bank research on the 2009 ATM network reform, published yesterday, shows that transactions at foreign ATMs (machines not owned by the cardholder's bank) accounted for almost half of all ATM withdrawals in the four years prior to reform, but fell to around 40 per cent afterwards. In 2009, Australia moved to a direct-fee ATM pricing model, which saw the cardholder's account being debited by the foreign ATM owner during the transaction.Up to that time, when a foreign ATM transaction occurred the cardholder's bank would pay a fee (the interchange fee) to the ATM owner to cover the cost of processing the transaction. Cardholders would pay a fee to their bank to cover the interchange cost. Cardholders were usually not charged when they made an "own-bank" ATM transaction.The RBA's reason for making the change was so direct pricing would make the cost of ATM services transparent and introduce some price competition into the market.What has surprised the RBA is that there has been such a marked change in behaviour, even though the overall price of a foreign ATM transaction did not change.The average direct charge has settled at around $2. Foreign fees, charged by the cardholder's bank when the cardholder uses a foreign ATM, have been largely eliminated.One explanation for the behaviour is that consumers are reminded of the cost each time they use a foreign ATM, and they are prompted to cancel the transaction if they do not want to pay the direct charge.Another effect of the pricing change, identified in the RBA's research, is that there has been an acceleration in the pace of ATM deployment. The number of ATMs grew at an annual rate of 5.5 per cent over the two years following the reform, compared with average annual growth of 3.25 per cent over the four years to March 2009.