I certainly welcome the news that parliamentarians are pushing to examine…and hopefully eliminate…the $1.50 service fee each of us tends to suffer every time we use an ATM machine that doesn’t belong to our bank of choice…something the British got rid of years ago.
And, if for one moment, anyone believes the major banks will suffer by NOT charging fees…well…such people (eg. bank CEOs) belong in la-la-land.
In any case, our bank machines are pitiful at providing useful customer services, when compared to counterpart ATMs around the world (a list I obtained after watching last night’s CBC news). For example:
(1) In Russia, you can insert rubles into an ATM, have it automatically convert the currency, and spit out the equivalent amount in American dollars…
(2) In Brazil, ATMs will actually print out cheques…
…but the award for Best ATM Function EVER goes to Indonesia:
(3) ATMs can be used to pre-book and pre-pay a GOAT SACRIFICE!!!
You just don’t get this kind of customer attention from Canadian ATMs. If I could use one to arrange the sacrifice of my own barnyard animal, THAT would be worth the $1.50 surcharge! 
