The $1.50 fee that banks charge noncustomers to withdraw cash from their automated banking machines poses no problem for the Consumers' Association of Canada, president Bruce Cran said Friday.

NDP Leader Jack Layton demanded an end to the fees in late January and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has asked the big banks to address the issue.

Fees at bank machines aren't a problem for some users, Consumers' Association president Bruce Cran says.
(Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)

However, Cran said that after Layton urged banks to eliminate the fees, the consumers' association got phone calls and e-mails supporting them.

"A lot of people felt this was a convenience," he told CBC Newsworld. "This isn't being driven by consumers."

Cran said the fees were not a priority issue for the association because people have a choice: they can use their own bank's machines or pay extra to use another bank's.

He said a board member of the association once walked six blocks in a snowstorm to skip the $1.50 fee by using his own bank's machines.

"I wouldn't do that," Cran said. "I'm more than happy to pay $1.50."

He said his group sees no reason to legislate the fees.

The Canadian Bankers Association has said the fee is a charge for the convenience of using the closest machine.

With files from the Canadian Press