The ATM Double Fee: $20 in Cash Costs $24.86

Twenty dollars out of an out-of-network cash machine costs $24.86, because two separate companies each add a line to the same withdrawal. In Bankrate's 2025 survey, the machine's owner averaged $3.22 and the customer's own bank averaged $1.64 — $4.86 together, the highest in the 27 years the survey has run and a record for the third year in a row. 1

Only one of those lines is in front of you when you decide. Federal rules require the machine to disclose its own fee, on screen or on paper, before the customer is committed, and to charge it only if the customer chooses to continue. The bank's $1.64 is a term of the account, and it turns up later on the statement. 2

The fee is charged once per withdrawal rather than as a share of the cash, so a small withdrawal pays the most. On Bankrate's average, $4.86 is 4.9% of $100 and 24% of $20. Nothing caps what a bank may charge for an out-of-network withdrawal. 3

The film closes on the move: divide the fee by the cash, and if the result is not a small single-digit percentage, put the card back and take cash back at a register instead. Bankrate notes that cash back at the register generally carries no fee, with lower limits than a machine. 1