My distinguished colleague, Zac Bissonnette, wrote an impassioned piece on Bank of America's(NYSE: BAC) ATM fee hike. The bank has recently announced it was raising its fee on the usage of Bank of America network of 17,700 ATMs. Bank of America is raising the fee from $2 to $3 for non BofA customers. Zac finds this fee onerous and suggests that consumers should not use BofA's network of ATMs. Thing is, last time I checked, Bank of America was a "for-profit" corporation.

Bank of America is known to be one of the most innovative banks in the world. The bank has set up a system of bill-presentment and bill-paying for its customers that is the envy and the model of the industry. The charge for this service to Bank of America customers is zero, zip, nada. The bank does not charge its own customers for use of the ATM system nationwide, which is the largest ATM network, sporting 17,700 locations.

Salon's Andrew Leonard takes a look at Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) recent decision to boost the surcharge non BofA customers will need to pay to use the bank's ATM machines: Instead of paying $2, we -- non BofA customers -- will now have to pay $3 if we choose to use them.

Mr. Leonard makes it clear that he isn't a big fan of these charges: "Let's hear it for Iowa, Connecticut, San Francisco and Santa Monica, Calif. Earlier this century, these four states and municipalities attempted to ban ATM surcharges. Sure, you can call that unwarranted interference into the workings of the free market, if you like."

Yeah. That's exactly what I would call it. Why should states interfere with people who want to, out of sheer stupidity, pay $3 to use an ATM machine, when they can get cash back by paying for a 25 cent pack of gum with a debit card at the grocery store?

Of course BofA is greedy. I wrote about its deceptive "Keep The Change" program and, all things considered, I would rather eat glass than bank with them. I think the ATM fees are ridiculous, so I'll tell you what I'm going to do: I'm not going to use Bank of America's ATMs. Simple!

And if enough people do that, maybe the bank will reconsider the fees. Or not. But since $3 is a complete rip-off, I'm well-served by avoiding BofA's ATMs either way. But if people are dumb enough to pay $3-4, why should we stop them?