How does that make any sense? I put my card into the reader and it debited from my bank account. I didn't pull cash from an ATM and there was no ATM present in the business.
In my country, one can perform debit card transaction with 'cash back' - if I'm in the grocery store buying $50 of groceries with my debit card, and I also want $30 of cash, they can charge my card $80 and hand me $30 from the drawer.
This was a great boon for banks a few decades ago, as it functionally gave them a huge ATM network for free.
The debit card system understands this sort of transaction, and doesn't charge the normal x% processing fee on the cash withdrawal portion of the transaction.
In other words, retailers can create transactions that are effectively ATM withdrawals - without an ATM.
And the really nice thing about this is that there are no fees.
If I just need $80 or so (I think the limit is $100), it's faster to go to the local Walmart and buy a candy bar or something and get back $80 cash than to go the closest ATM owned by my bank to avoid the double dipping fees.
Our local grocery store (Fred Meyer, aka Kroger) has started charging a fee to take out extra and get cash back. Not a lot, but a bit annoying. I used to get cash that way all the time, but even for a nominal fee I just avoid that store now. I am weird, yes.
That doesn't really make sense. My bank's ATM has to be refilled with cash and they don't charge me. Likewise, I doubt the Walmart self-checkout is sorting bills and only dispensing $20's: they also have to be loaded with cash separately.
The only charges I encounter are from using my bank's card at another bank's ATM.
It probably depends on the type of account you have with the bank. I certainly don't pay ATM fees so long as I use my bank's own ATM but perhaps there are more bare-bones account types that do.
