All Sheetz In-Store ATMs Going Surcharge-Free

Sheetz and M&T Bank has announced that, effective March 1st, customers who withdraw cash from any M&T Bank ATM machine at Sheetz - regardless of their own bank - will not have to pay an extra surcharge fee. The average surcharge - the fee customers pay to use another banks ATM - has risen steadily over the years to $1.54, according to a recent study by Bankrate.com. That same study also reports that American consumers paid more than $4.3 billion last year in withdrawal fees for using ATMs not owned by their own bank.

While Sheetz customers will not have to pay a surcharge fee for accessing money, they may still be charged a fee by their own bank for using M&T Banks ATM. American consumers rely on ATM machines more than ever before, according to a 2004 industry report by Dove Consulting. There are now more than 371,000 ATMs in the U.S. - or one ATM for every 296 households. Consumers conducted approximately 11 billion ATM transactions in 2004, up 2% from 2002. Sheetz partners with M&T Bank to provide customers with in-store ATM service. In addition to the new surcharge-free service beginning March 1, M&T will begin replacing ATM machines in Sheetz stores this Spring with new, higher-functioning machines manufactured by NCR. The new touch-screen machines will dispense $10 and $20 bills, along with U.S. Postage Stamps and offer transactions in English and Spanish. The ATMs also will be voice- enabled for the visually impaired. M&T expects to have new machines installed in all Sheetz stores by Fall 2006. M&T is the premiere bank in many of Sheetzs markets, including Sheetzs headquarters market of Altoona, Pa., where M&T is the market share leader with more than 25 percent of all deposits.