Paid a Fee at a Non-Bank ATM Since 2007? You Can Claim a Piece of $167.5 Million
Last updated 10/09/2026 by
SuperMoney Team
Edited by
Andrew Latham
Summary:
If you paid an ATM fee at a gas station, bar, or convenience store any time from October 24, 2007 through August 14, 2026, and your bank didn’t refund it, you can file a free claim in Visa and Mastercard’s $167.5 million settlement. The deadline is February 10, 2027, and you don’t need receipts to file. Expect a modest check, then use the next five minutes to make sure you never pay one of these fees again.
Most of us have done it. You need $40 for a babysitter or a tip jar, the only machine in sight is the one next to the chips, and it asks for $3.50 to hand over your own money. You press yes because what else are you going to do?
A federal class action says those fees were inflated by rules Visa and Mastercard wrote, and both companies have agreed to pay $167.5 million to settle it without admitting wrongdoing. Visa is putting in about $88.8 million and Mastercard about $78.7 million. Here’s how to get your share and how to stop feeding the machines.
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Who qualifies
You’re in if you used an ATM or PIN-debit card at a non-bank ATM in the U.S. between October 24, 2007 and August 14, 2026, paid a surcharge, and weren’t fully reimbursed by your bank. “Non-bank” means an independent machine, the kind you find in convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, and bars. The ATM in a Chase or Wells Fargo lobby doesn’t count.
Some things are left out. Credit card cash advances, prepaid cards, and foreign-issued cards aren’t covered. And if your bank refunded the surcharge in full, you didn’t lose money, so there’s nothing to claim.
The dates that matter
- December 11, 2026: last day to object to the deal (postmarked) or for your opt-out request to be received
- February 10, 2027: claim deadline, online or by mail
- February 17, 2027, 4 p.m. ET: final approval hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Payments are expected about six months after final approval, assuming nobody appeals. Appeals can push that back. Realistically, plan on money arriving sometime in late 2027 or later.
How to file a claim
Go to the official settlement site, nonbankatmsurchargesettlement.com, and fill out the claim form. It takes a few minutes. You’ll give your contact information, confirm you paid an unreimbursed fee, and estimate how many times it happened. You sign under penalty of perjury, so be honest about the number.
You don’t have to attach proof now. The administrator can ask for bank statements later if your claim looks off, so if you do have records, keep them. Payments go out digitally (PayPal or a virtual debit card), or you can ask for a paper check.
Watch out for look-alike sites. Filing is free. Anyone asking for a fee, your Social Security number, or your bank login to “release” your payment is running a scam. Type the web address yourself rather than clicking a link in an email or text.
Should you opt out?
Almost certainly not. Opting out means giving up your claim so you can sue Visa and Mastercard on your own, and nobody is going to hire a lawyer over a few $3.50 fees. Stay in and file.
What will you actually get?
Here’s the honest answer: nobody knows yet, and it’s probably not life-changing. The $167.5 million has to cover attorney fees, administration costs, taxes, and awards to the people who brought the case. What’s left gets split among everyone with a valid claim, in proportion to the number of transactions each person reports.
Run the math on yourself. The average out-of-network withdrawal cost about $4.86 in 2025, made up of roughly $3.22 charged by the ATM owner and $1.64 charged by your own bank. If you hit a non-bank machine twice a month, that’s about $117 a year. Over a decade, it’s close to $1,170, and about $770 of that is the ATM owner’s surcharge, which is the part this case is about. Your payout will be some fraction of that. Still worth five minutes? Sure. Worth planning around? No.
Stop paying the fee
The better money is in the fees you won’t pay from here on. That $4.86 on a $40 withdrawal is a 12% charge. You’d never accept a 12% fee on anything else.
A few fixes that work:
- Ask for cash back at the register. Grocery stores, Walmart, and Target will usually give you $20 to $100 back with a debit purchase, no fee.
- Look up your bank’s ATM network before you need it. Some online banks give you access to 75,000 or more fee-free machines, and some credit unions, like Alliant, advertise 80,000 or more.
- If you’re always paying fees, switch to a checking account that refunds ATM charges. Some do it with no monthly cost.
- Skip cash when you can. Zelle, Venmo, and PayPal move money to friends for free, and most small vendors take cards now.
One more habit: decline the machine’s “convenience” screen. If the ATM shows a fee before you confirm, you can cancel and walk away without being charged. Most people don’t realize that.
Where the SuperMoney app fits
Fees like this hide in your transaction list as tiny charges you stop noticing. If you connect your accounts to the SuperMoney app, you can see every ATM and bank fee in one place and total up what they cost you over a year. Then you can decide whether to switch accounts, which is where the real savings are.
Key takeaways
- The settlement fund is $167.5 million: about $88.8 million from Visa and $78.7 million from Mastercard
- Covers unreimbursed non-bank ATM surcharges from October 24, 2007 to August 14, 2026
- Claim deadline is February 10, 2027. Opt-out and objection deadline is December 11, 2026
- The average out-of-network ATM withdrawal cost $4.86 in 2025 ($3.22 surcharge plus $1.64 from your bank), or about $117 a year at two per month
- Payments are expected roughly six months after the February 17, 2027 final approval hearing, if there are no appeals
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