What to Know About ATM Withdrawal Limits

When it comes to accessing money from your bank account, withdrawing cash is an easy way to do so. However, there are limits as to how much you can withdraw.

Whether you’re going all out at a massive flea market or about to embark on your next road trip, you’ll want to see what the ATM withdrawal limit is where you bank so that you’re not stuck without any cash.

Of course, there are other options if you want to withdraw more than what your account’s daily ATM withdrawal limit allows. Not to worry, as we’ll go over what you need to know about ATM withdrawal limits, and how to get around them if need be.

What Are ATM Withdrawal Limits?

Simply put, ATM withdrawal limits are what banks impose so that you’re only allowed to take out a certain amount each day from an ATM.

You may be wondering why, since it’s technically your money in the bank account. While true, these limits are imposed for both security and practical reasons.

Think about it: ATM machines can only hold so much cash. What’s more, banks only have a certain amount of cash on hand at their branches each day. Meaning, these limits are trying to be fair so that folks who want to take cash out will be able to do so.

Setting limits can help safeguard your checking or savings account, especially if someone ends up getting access to your account — like if they stole your debit card and found out your PIN number. Thieves can drain your entire account if there wasn’t a limit in place.

What Is the Daily ATM Withdrawal Limit?

Daily withdrawal limits typically range from $500 to $3,000. The withdrawal limit will vary depending on factors such as your bank, the type of account you have, and how long you’ve been a customer.

Banks are most likely the biggest factor as to how much you can withdraw each day from the ATM. There are generally larger withdrawal limits for large national banks compared to smaller community or regional banks — same goes for smaller credit unions). Online banks may also set different limits compared to brick and mortar ones.

Keep in mind there may also be limits on the amount of cash you can withdraw. As in, some machines may not let you withdraw up to the daily limit imposed by your bank — this is typically true for out of network ATMs.

Daily Limit vs. Purchase Limits

Your daily withdrawal limit may also be different from your purchase limit with your debit card. For example, you can only withdraw up to $1,000 in cash each day through your checking or savings account, but you can make up to $5,000 in purchases with your debit card. Again, the point of these limits are to protect your money and accounts.

In the past Federal Regulation D imposed limits to the number of withdrawals you can make per month on savings accounts (assuming you’re not withdrawing from a checking account), though ATM withdrawals were generally an exception. That being said, it’s a good idea to check with your bank to make sure you don’t have such limitations and if so, you’re well within them when you want to make a withdrawal.

How to Get Around Withdrawal Limits

There are several ways to get around withdrawal limits, though your best first course of action is to increase the limit. Other ways include getting cash back when making debit card purchases and cashing a check.

Increasing Your ATM Withdrawal Limit

Some banks and credit unions are willing to raise ATM withdrawal limits temporarily or for a short amount of time. For example, if you’re going overseas on vacation, contact your bank beforehand to request a limit increase. Your bank may increase it for two weeks (or however long you’re traveling and after that time period, it’ll go down to whatever the previous limit was.

If you need to withdraw money from the ATM often, you can attempt to raise your ATM withdrawal limits permanently. However, banks won’t always grant your request.There are several factors banks consider when approving you for a withdrawal limit increase:

• The type of accounts you have
• The length of time you’ve been a customer
• Your transaction history, including how much you keep at the bank and whether you’ve overdrafted before

To negotiate getting your daily ATM withdrawal limit increased permanently, you’ll need to get all your ducks in a row. As in, make sure you’re prepared to present solid reasons why the bank should agree to your request.

Perhaps you keep a lot of cash on deposit at any time, so making extra withdrawals won’t get you too close to overdraft, or you’ve been a decades-long loyal customer. Whatever the reason is, try to phrase it in a way that’s beneficial to both you and your bank.

If you do get a higher limit congrats! You’ll want to continue to remain vigilant about your banking information and your debit card. It’d be a shame for someone to get unauthorized access and withdraw the higher limit without your knowledge.

Be prepared for what you’ll do if your bank says no (because it’s a total possibility). In this instance, you can either get around these limits using the tactics below. Or, you can consider switching to an account or bank that offers higher limits.

Do your research before making any changes like switching accounts because you may have to be subjected to different terms and conditions. For example, some bank accounts allow a higher ATM withdrawal limit, but it comes at the price of a higher monthly maintenance fee or minimum balance amounts.

Cashing a Check

This option is as simple as writing a check to yourself and taking it to the bank to cash it. While it may not count towards your ATM withdrawal limit, it could count toward the overall withdrawal limit you can make, or ones on cashing checks.

If you use an online bank, this may not be an option since you won’t be able to head to an in-person branch — many brick and mortar banks only allow this for existing customers.

Head to the Teller

For those who have accounts with banks that have physical branches, you can simply go to the teller and have them help you withdraw cash from your checking or savings account. Or depending on the amount, a safer way to do so would be to get a money order, certified check or cashier’s check.

It bears repeating that you may be subject to withdrawal limits imposed by your bank.

Not only that, but the federal government tends to track large withdrawals — banks have to report transactions that are at least $10,000 in cash, even if it’s for a cashier’s check or money orders.

Of course, if you’re making a withdrawal for legitimate reasons, you don’t need to worry. We’re simply pointing out the IRS may notice these types of withdrawals.

Getting Cash Back

Depending on the store (most major retailers and big box stores have this option), you may be able to get cash back each time you make a purchase with your debit card and it won’t count against your ATM withdrawal limit.

But (and it’s a big one), that’s not always the case. Here’s where we suggest you check with your bank (because you know it’s true). Even if it doesn’t, it could still count towards your daily purchase limit.

Meaning, you could get cash back and still be able to withdraw from an ATM, but you could limit your daily purchases using your debit card.

Some stores also impose a cash back limit. You guessed it, it’s most likely because of the amount of cash the store has on hand for security purposes. For instance, you go grocery shopping and the store only allows you to get up to $100 in cash back when you use your debit card.

This limit could be based on each purchase. That means if you want to get $200 in cash back at the same store, you may need to make two different purchases. Each of them will count towards your bank’s daily purchase limit.

Contributor Sarah Li-Cain is a personal finance writer based in Jacksonville, Florida, specializing in real estate, insurance, banking, loans and credit. She is the host of the Buzzsprout and Beyond the Dollar podcasts.