There may be a direr word than 'dire' for the straits in which the Australian banking industry sails. The coordinated price cuts on ATM fees on Sunday, 24 October 2017, radiate risk. The initiative is 'consumer friendly' only in the sense that consumers are finally getting what some say they should have been given all along.Pro-competitive? No way - and any rebuttal with organic themes will be a hard sell for banks' PRs.Against accusations of collusion or forewarning of price signalling, defenders will argue this was public-spirited, honest competition. But others will be asking what planning matrix informed the cascade of announcements.But it is the entrenched disdain for customers as anything but revenue machines that is the flaming crisis at the core of an Australian banking industry striving for reset.That disdain is everywhere, baked deep.Since the start of the ATM fees era, banks have weighed in with a succession of cost rationales for "foreign ATM fees". That was the lingo then, before the PR shift to "convenience fees" a decade ago.Walking in the cynical steps of the colourful ATM independents, Australia's banks cemented those fees from the outset of the 2009 RBA model for the ATM sector.$2 a time then, and $2 still now at major banks - despite the efficiency narrative of banks.Meanwhile, ATM fee levels set by the independent fleet owners are all well and truly settling in at the low end just shy of $3. Fees of $3.50 are common, and reportedly of over $5 in places.The Council of Financial Regulators, has blockbuster plans ahead of them to shake penalties from the industry - in the billions if they are any good. And the ACCC is taking its turn in the footlights with APRA as principal regulator.They may take note that capital is in no short supply at the fringes of the banking sector for experienced operators.