Banks add $1 fee for MAC use

Getting your money out will cost you a bit more this year than in the past. This summer, both PNC Bank and Mellon PSFS instituted $1 surcharge fees on their money access center (MAC machine) systems. Those who do not have accounts with PNC or Mellon will be charged $1 each time they withdraw funds from those banks' MACs -- in addition to whatever their own banks already charge for using another system. All MACs in campus buildings and residences belong to PNC. And most machines in local stores are also part of PNC's or Mellon's systems. "The decision was entirely PNC's bank," University spokesperson Sandy Smith said. "[The University] was neither consulted or involved in that decision." Mellon's surcharge fee went into effect August 15, and PNC began charging non-customers earlier this summer. CoreStates Bank is one of Philadelphia's large banks that still does not charge for the use of its MACs. And Commerce Bank, with a branch at 38th and Walnut streets, also allows free use of their machines. Legislation was recently introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate that would prohibit banks from charging fees to customers who use other institutions' MACs. "The surcharge is a profit-padding double-charge and a deliberate ploy by PNC, Mellon and other large financial institutions around the country to thrust a dagger in the heart of a fair, free and competitive market for banking services," state Sen. Leonard Bodack (D-Allegheny) said in a statement.

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