Statistics, Facts, & Such

• The average ATM surcharge is now $1.47 - the most common is $1.50, with more institutions than last year charging $2.00. 99% of institutions surveyed offer ATM cards, and 90% assess surcharges. www.bankrate.com
  
  
• 85% of Internet banks do not charge their customers for using another bank's ATM. 88% of traditional banks do. www.bankrate.com
  
  
• In fiscal year 2002 approximately $43 million in counterfeit notes were passed in the United States. U.S. Treasury
  
  
• United States consumers saved 4.3% of their income in the last quarter of 2002, which is the highest rate since 1998. In the last quarter of 2001, the consumers saved only 1% of income. Motley Fool, 2/14/03
  
  
• There are more than 1,000 consumer reporting agencies in the USA, the three biggest being Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Two million credit reports are ordered each day. Two billion pieces of information are added to the files each month. The average consumer's credit report is updated 5 times a day. Motley Fool Credit Center, "7 Naked Truths of Credit Reporting," David Forrest, 1/21/03
  
  
• The use of checks by Americans is decreasing at a rate of 3% to 6% a year, due largely to increased use of electronic payments (ACH, debit cards, credit cards). In 1995 there were approximately 49.5 billion checks processed. In 2000 that number had declined to 42.5 billion. Federal Reserve Bank
  
  
• More than $100 billion in tax refund checks will be received by taxpayers in 2003. ICBA Washington Weekly Report, 3/3/03
  
  
• The average bounced check fee is $25.21. www.bankrate.com, Checking Account Pricing Study
  
  
• Nigerian money offers are the fastest growing Internet fraud reported to the National Consumers League's Internet Fraud Watch program, increasing some 900 percent over the last year. This message usually comes from someone in an African country who claims to need help getting a fortune out of the country and offers millions as a reward for being able to transfer the funds to your bank account. National Consumers League www.nclnet.org

Copyright © 2003 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 13, No. 1, 4/03