Five ways to save on ATM charges

Adhil ShettyBankBazaarMaking use of a service and using it wisely are two different things. You may have access to a car, but driving wisely within the regulated speed limits to save fuel or driving rashly is in your hands.Just like you drive a car wisely to save fuel, you can use all financial services like the widely ignored ATM with equal enthusiasm. Many people just use their ATM card compulsively without keeping tab on the number of times they are using the service. And when they are charged for excessive usage, they curse the bank and regulations rather than tweaking their usage pattern.Here is a look five simple but effective ways in which you can save on paying any excess ATM usage charges by tweaking your ATM usage smartly.1: Use Post Office ATMs: Do you know that soon you will be able to use post offices ATMs irrespective of whether you have a bank account in a public or a private bank. India Post is currently a payment bank, but the department is seeking interoperability of its ATMs with other banks. Once the approval is granted, you can use ATMs of Post India, especially when in rural areas, limiting your usage of other bank ATMs. India Post has already issued more than 1 Lakh ATM-cum-debit cards to its account holders. You can opt to open an account with India Post and make use of their extensive Pan India network of ATM's. This way you will never use a different ATM from your bank, thereby can save the charges you pay for usage of other bank ATMs.2: Go Digital: If you are mostly using ATMs to withdraw cash for shopping or transferring it to a different account, make use of digital payment methods and wallet services instead. Digital wallets get linked to your bank account and can be easily operated with your mobile phone. Instead of transferring hard cash, transfer money digitally. Digital wallets, cards, and net banking are safe, more cost effective, and do not make you run to the nearest ATM every time you are out of cash. From paying your neighborhood shopkeeper for purchases to payment of taxi bills, you can use mobile wallets to transfer money from your account directly into the account of the service provider or shopkeeper.3: Use priority banking to your advantage: What facilities do you actually compare when opening a bank account? If you are not comparing the number of free ATM usage on offer, you are missing an important trick in the book. Banks offer complete ATM usage for priority banking customers. If you think you can afford to keep a minimum balance of at least Rs.25,000 a month, then opt for a priority banking account with a bank that offers the service. You will not only get far more streamlined banking services at ease, but also you will get additional free ATM usage or even completely free usage. Even after you exhaust the free ATM usage, the fee charged by banks for priority banking customers is often waived off by the bank as a goodwill gesture. 4: Change your ATM usage pattern: With ATM usage becoming charged, many people have successfully transformed the way they use their bank ATMs. If you are someone who is always making a trip to bank ATM every time you need some cash, maybe there is a case to withdraw more money to reduce your ATM trip frequency. So instead of withdrawing Rs. 5000 twice in a week, withdraw Rs.10,000 once. Research your cash consumption pattern and work out what works best for you so that you are making minimal trips to the ATMs. Also make use of mobile and internet banking to check minimum balances and the like.5: Use credit cards for payments instead of cash: Gone are the days when only a handful of merchants or retailers had card swapping machines. Every time you go out shopping, make it a priority to pay by card rather than offering to pay by cash. Paying by card may take an extra minute, but it is well worth the wait in the long run.In today’s world, when expenses are growing with each passing day, saving on small charges like ATM usage fee can add up to a quite a tidy sum at the end of the year. With these five simple tips, you can minimize and virtually bring your ATM usage charges to zero in the long run.