Bank of America has increased the ATM fee it charges its noncustomers to $3 from $2, making it the highest rate of its kind by a major bank. After adding the additional fee that most banks charge for using another institution’s ATM, up to $2.50 in some cases, users could end up paying $5.50 for each withdrawal.

“The only reason other banks have not increased their fees is because they want to wait and see how big the reaction will be,” a banking sector analyst with the Aite Group, Adil Moussa, said. “If you think about the amount of revenue involved, and the fact that someone has now paved the way,” it is likely this will be the first in a series of ATM fee hikes, he added.

In the past, banks have increased their fees by 25-cent increments, so Bank of America’s move to tack on another $1 — a 50% jump — is unusual, analysts say. It is the only bank in the city to charge this amount, and it is a far cry from a decade ago, when many banks didn’t even charge a fee to noncustomers. The average ATM fee across the country was $1.64 last year, the most recent data available.

Bank of America, which has the nation’s largest bank-owned network, with more than 17,000 ATMs, says the increase, which is levied only against people who are not customers, aims to better serve people who have accounts at its branches.

“We want to put our customers first,” a Bank of America spokeswoman, Betty Riess, said, adding that noncostumers create lines and foot traffic.

The $3 fee, which became effective last month, targets only ATM users at its New York City branches, and does not apply to stand-alone machines in locations such as grocery stores and airports, where the old $2 fee still applies.

“When you have the largest bank bumping up their fee 50%, it normalizes the pain, and I expect that other banks will follow suit,” a legislative counsel for the New York Public Interest Research Group, Russ Haven, said.

Although it may be counterintuitive, raising ATM fees may actually increase a bank’s customer base because customers, after repeatedly being charged a higher rate at a bank, may choose to join the bank to avoid the high fees.

“It’s a no-lose proposition for banks, because if they raise the fees, they may punish the consumer enough to become a customer of the bank,” Mr. Haven said. “The higher charges in a way serve to gain market share. If you can’t beat the big bank, you join them.”

As of now, no other major banks have increased their fees in the city. The most recent was last year, when Citibank raised its fees for noncustomers to $2 from $1.50.

Chase Bank, which has the largest ATM network in the New York metropolitan area, charges its New York noncustomers $1.50 for each ATM withdrawal. While the bank says it has no plan to raise fees yet, “we can never say never,” a spokesman, Tom Kelly, said.

While Bank of America is charging more in New York than in other cities, strong competition for ATM business does keep fees down in the city. For example, Chase Bank recently partnered with Duane Reade to put Chase ATMs in the pharmacies, and only charges 99 cents for each withdrawal. ATMs at McDonald’s fast food chains also charge 99 cents.

“Part of our analysis is pricing ATM rates market-by-market,” Mr. Kelly said. “There’s a number of factors, and among them is the price others are charging.”

A Web site that monitors the banking industry, Bankrate.com, recommends that consumers use their own bank to save on fees. When that’s not possible, it recommends using the cash-back feature offered at many stores, and to use debit cards instead of cash. When using another bank cannot be avoided, Bankrate.com recommends taking out larger amounts of cash.