Robbing YOU

Ever taken out cash from an ATM machine and gotten socked with a $3 fee (or worse)? You probably weren't thrilled about that.

Nobody likes those fees. Except banks.

America's three biggest banks -- JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WFC) -- earned more than $6 billion just from ATM and overdraft fees last year, according to an analysis by SNL Financial and CNNMoney.

That equates to $25 for every adult in the United States.

There's so much frustration over these fees that they have become a presidential campaign issue.

Consumers now pay over $4, on average, to withdraw their own money from an out-of-network ATM, according to Bankrate.

"In my view, it is unacceptable that Americans are paying a $4 or $5 fee each time they go to the ATM," Sanders said in a recent speech.

Big profits on fees

The outrage comes as Americans are finding out exactly how much banks really profit from those pesky ATM and overdraft fees. For the first time, banks were required to disclose this information publicly in 2015.

While ATM fees get the most attention on the campaign trail, overdraft charges are the most profitable for banks.

America's big three banks made over $5.1 billion last year from overdraft fees alone.

Banks aren't supposed to charge customers overdraft fees when they use an ATM to get cash unless the customer chooses or "opts in" to get the cash despite the fee.

A 2014 Pew study found more than half of the people who overdrew their checking accounts in the past year didn't remember consenting to the overdraft service.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/14/investing/atm-overdraft-fees/index.html