Consumers alter their behavior when faced with higher ATM surcharges.

• Position: Marketing News - Brief article

One of the most common questions banks face with respect to ATMs is how to price ATM surcharges. Will higher surcharges increase revenues or merely drive consumers away?

Recent research by Synergistics, Atlanta, suggests that consumers are, in fact, resistant to ATM surcharging and may change their behavior in response to increased surcharges.

In a national online survey of more than 1,000 consumers age 18 or older, the company found that slightly more than half (54 percent) of ATM users have used ATMs belonging to organizations other than their financial institution, and of these, almost nine in 10 (89 percent) say they are required to pay a fee to use other ATMs. Overall, close to half of...