Want cash back? You now have to pay a fee at QFC, other Kroger stores

If you're in the habit of getting cash back when you check out at a Kroger store, your local store may now charge a fee.

Kroger started rolling out fees for cash back at checkout at its stores over the summer.

Customers who use their debit cards to get cash at the store now have to pay for that convenience if the amount exceeds 99 cents.

“This service is very popular for customers, and we process millions (150M+ in 2018) transactions enterprise wide per year. Unfortunately, we cannot continue to offer this service for free due to the high demand and processing/labor costs,” Kelli McGannon said via email.

McGannon is a spokesperson for QFC, a subsidiary of Kroger based in Bellevue, Washington. She said QFC stores started charging fees last week.

McGannon said the fees are cheaper than customers going to the ATM and this provides people with a safe and convenient way to get cash.

Here’s how the fees breakdown, according to McGannon:

• Cash back of $0.00 - $0.99 = no fee
• $1.00 - $100 = $0.50 fee
• $100.01 - $300 = $3.50 fee
• $300 - $9,999.99 = $6.00 fee

McGannon said the only exception is customers using an EBT card to get cash back.

Customers were previously able to get cash back free of charge from Kroger stores. The change took place recently and some disgruntled customers have taken to Twitter to vent their frustration.

One person said they would go elsewhere to shop as a result: “I guess I'm done shopping at Kroger...I despise greed.”