What will happen if banks are not allowed to impose the ATM surcharge?
A. Based on the experience in Iowa and Connecticut, where the surcharge has been banned the past three years, ATMs will still be plentiful and banks will still be profitable. At least one recent study found that the growth rate of ATMs in Connecticut is higher than the national average. Another study found that the number of ATMs per capita in Iowa is just about at the national average. Wells Fargo and Bank of America, the two banks which reacted to the passage of the Santa Monica ban by blocking use of their ATMs by non-customers, own banks in Iowa. As far as can be told (the banks themselves aren’t saying anything), the number of ATMs they own in those two states is comparable to every other state. (Further, although both banks shut down AATM service to non-customers in Santa Monica following the passage of that city s ban, the banks provide service to all consumers in Iowa.) After all, the banks will still continue to more than cover the costs of building and operating ATMs via thei
