Students and alumni belonging to the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union will be able to take advantage of a nationwide network of ATMs free of surcharges starting next week.

An agreement signed with the Allpoint ATM Network by GUASFCU’s former directors, whose terms ended earlier this month, makes over 32,000 ATMs nationwide available to alumni and student cardholders and will take effect April 5. GUASFCU is expected to announce the deal within the next week.

Currently GUASFCU offers only two surcharge-free ATMs to its members – one in the Leavey Center and one in O’Donovan Hall.

Allpoint President Ben Psillas praised the deal as a move that will help the Credit Union compete with more prominent banks in Washington, D.C.

“For [GUASFCU], this is a big move,” Psillas said. “It gives them the opportunity to compete with banks in the area like Chevy Chase, PNC and Bank of America by offering more ATMs to their cardholders free of charge.”

Gregory Pasqua (MSB ’07), the chief executive officer of the Credit Union, declined to comment on the deal, saying that more information would be released as the start of new operations approached.

“The decision to join the Allpoint ATM network has been in the works for over a year now,” he said. “It has required countless hours of preparation and many steps must still be taken in the coming days to prepare for its final implementation.”

In January, the Credit Union sent to its membership via e-mail a survey offering three options for improved services. One of those options was for the Credit Union to join Allpoint.

Allpoint is the largest national ATM network, offering over 32,000 surcharge-free ATMs including dozens in Washington, D.C., and its suburbs and three on Wisconsin Avenue near Georgetown University. It currently has agreements with eight credit unions.