Yes. Since free ATMs are usually provided as a convenience to customers, many banks charge a fee for non-customers to use their ATMs. Federal law allows banks to charge certain fees as long as they are disclosed – you may notice that when you use an ATM a screen appears notifying you of the fees the bank will charge you for the transaction.
Banks have not always charged fees for ATM use. When ATMs first appeared in the 1970s, an individual could not use a bank’s ATM unless he was a customer. As ATM technology advanced and their popularity grew, banks began to allow non-customers to use their ATMs. Banks eventually determined that they needed to charge non-customers fees to compensate for the additional maintenance and processing costs that came along with their use of the machines. Today, if you use an ATM and you are not a customer of the bank that owns it, you may be charged a fee by that bank as well as by your own bank.
There are ways to avoid some ATM fees. Try using your debit card to get cash back when making a purchase. Debit transactions typically have no fees, so you can get cash free of any charges. In addition, some banks do not charge their customers fees when they use another bank’s ATM and reimburse for the fees charged by the bank that owns the ATM, so shop around to find a bank with this type of fee structure.