Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - We spend $4 billion a year on ATM fees, but you may have heard about a new alternative to paying those extra charges starting next year.
If you don’t use your own bank’s ATM, you can pay – on average - $2.10 per transaction at some other automatic teller machine. Now, a new company wants to help you avoid those charges. The trade-off, however, is that before you can get your money out, you have to watch a commercial. An additional screen above the ATM itself streams video ads 24 hours a day.
As your transaction processes, a slideshow – up to 20 seconds long – plays the ad.
The company that runs these machines says it doesn’t lengthen the time it takes you at the ATM. And, you are given the option to pay a few dollars to skip the ad.
Bear in mind, even though this ATM won’t charge a fee, your own bank may still hit you with a fee for using someone else’s machine. The new machines are being tested in Brooklyn. They hope to launch thousands of the machines nationwide next year.
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