Withdrawing From ATM May Cost More Soon

Withdrawing from ATM may cost you more soon

In order to cut transaction costs of banks, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow common ATMs, called 'white-label ATMs' that will be owned and managed by non-banking entities. These white-label ATMs' are proposed to be set up in non-traditional areas and customers would have to pay some fee for using them.

At present, banks allow customers of other banks five free-of-charge cash withdrawals at their ATMs every month but end up paying around 3,000 crore a year to settle inter-bank transaction costs. Until such ATMs come up, the ministry has told state-run banks to share the new dispensers they set up under a 'lead bank' arrangement. However, some banks are of the opinion that, the decision to set up an ATM or white-label ATMs should be left to the banks. It is noteworthy that currently white-label ATMs are operated by Euronext, Clear Card and Ezee ATM