36. ATMs

The Economics of Everyday Things

Why do you have to pay $4 to get $40 cash at a bar? And who does it go to? Zachary Crockett checks his balance.

• SOURCES:
  • Bernardo Batiz-Lazo, professor in the Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University.
  • Patricia Tuz, president of New York ATM.
  • Jon Weilbaker, general manager of New York ATM.
  • Sasha Weilbaker, freelance writer and daughter of Patricia and Jon.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The Number of ATMs Has Declined as People Rely Less on Cash," by Jim Carlton (The Wall Street Journal, 2023).
  • "Survey: ATM Fees Hit Record High While Overdraft and NSF Fees Fell Sharply," by Karen Bennett and Matthew Goldberg (Bankrate, 2023).
  • "More Americans Are Joining the ‘Cashless’ Economy," by Michelle Faverio (Pew Research Center, 2022).
  • "Thieves Target ATMs Flush With Cash During Covid-19," by Scott Calvert (The Wall Street Journal, 2021),
  • "Locational Study of ATMs in the US by Ownership," by Lian An, Christopher Baynard, Chriadip Chatterjee, and Chun-Ping A Loh (2018).
  • "A Brief History of the ATM," by Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo (The Atlantic, 2015).

• EXTRA:
  • "Why Are We Still Using Cash?" Freakonomics Radio (2016).