We expect to add new accounts. Washington Mutual's competitors, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, sued San Francisco and Santa Monica in 1999 in an effort to overturn local ordinances banning surcharges. The move by Washington Mutual demonstrates that surcharges are not as necessary as some banks have claimed. Wells Fargo and Bank of America insist that non-customers should not be allowed to use their ATMs for free, but in fact the two banks are already compensated for these transactions through an interchange fee paid by the customer's own bank. The interchange fee, typically 50 cents for a withdrawal, covers the ATM owner's costs and often provides a profit.
Surcharges are a second fee for the same transaction.
Currently, member banks must allow non-customers to make deposits at their ATMs without paying a surcharge. They do, however, collect an interchange fee from the customer's own bank. Interchange fees are typically much higher for deposits than they are for withdrawals. Pressure from some members have forced a number of networks to reconsider their rules. Because these virtual banks do not establish their own ATMs, there's no growth in the network of ATMs available to Firststar customers.