Start using your ATM Card discreetly or else you are going to pay a transaction fee beginning from today, Nov 1. According to guidelines, if you use your ATM more than 3 times per month at another bank's ATM, you would be charged Rs 20, each time you use the same beyond the stipulated limit.

On the other hand if you use your ATM more than 5 times at your own Bank ATM, you would also be levied a similar charge of Rs 20.

"Taking into account the high density of ATMs, bank branches and alternate modes of payment available to customers, the number of mandatory free ATM transactions for savings bank account customers at other banks' ATMs is reduced from the present 5 to 3 transactions per month (inclusive of both financial and non-financial transactions)," RBI had said in a notification issued in August this year.

So, if you are planning to use your ATM, there are some smart ways you could avoid using them. Make sure you do not go to the ATM to check for balance. Use the internet to check your balance. Also, make sure if you have exhausted the three and 5 use limits of one particular account, use the other account. In fact, make sure you use the SMS facility to check your balances.

It's also a good idea to keep an account of the number of transactions that you undertake, so you can restrict the same.

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