After years of sharp rises, the cost of withdrawing that wad of cash for the weekend from an automated teller machine took a pause in 2002

After years of sharp rises, the cost of withdrawing that wad of cash for the weekend from an automated teller machine took a pause in 2002, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. In its annual report on retail bank fees, the Fed found the average ATM surcharge, a fee charged to ATM users who do not keep an account with the bank owning the machine, rose by only 4 cents in 2002, to $1.36. John Hall, a spokesman for the Washington-based American Bankers Association, said the Fed study probably overstated the cost of cash machine usage to ordinary consumers. ATM customers use a variety of ways to keep their charges down, he said, including using their bank's ATMs only, getting cash back with debit card transactions and making larger but less frequent withdrawals. In 2001, the fee increased by 7 cents. That followed no change between 1999 and 2000. From 1997 through 2002, the surcharge has increased by 22.5 percent, well ahead of the rate of consumer inflation. The Fed surveyed about 620 banks and savings associations, getting data on a variety of fees and services. The study was originally mandated by Congress in 1989. After Congress allowed that mandate to lapse, however, the Fed has continued to conduct the study. The ATM surcharge has become increasingly popular in recent years, even as consumer groups have lobbied against it. The percentage of banks surveyed that charged the fee in 2002 rose slightly, to 89.4 percent, the Fed said. In 1996, only about 56 percent of banks surveyed levied it. A separate fee, charged by banks to clients who use ATMs owned by another institution, actually fell in 2002, to an average of $1.14 from $1.17, the Fed said. About 69 percent of banks charged this fee, down from 78.5 percent of banks in 2001.