Banks given the go-ahead to pull down ATM signs

Congress passed an amendment to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act in December that ordered regulators to make the change.

The new rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) still require that all ATM fees be disclosed before a consumer makes a transaction.

{mosads}Since 1999 — when the law that created the placards took effect — the average total cost of using an ATM has risen from $1.50 to nearly $4, the CFPB wrote in a Federal Register document that will be published on Tuesday.

The charges can come from using a “foreign” ATM, or one outside of a person’s bank or credit union. Those fees have become so common, the consumer bureau said, that having a sign to notify consumers of a potential cost is no longer valuable.