ATM users are being warned more cash machines will soon see charges introduced.
Major cashpoint operator, Notemachine, has announced plans to cut its number of free-to-use machines by 1,000. The company will start charging users to withdraw cash at a further 15% of its currently free ATMs in the coming months.
It comes as a major blow to the elderly and communities which are reliant on access to cash with withdrawals now costing 65p per transaction. Chief executive Steve Makaritis said the move comes following a 10% cut to funding since 2018, reports The Mirror.
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He said: “Government legislation protects 'access to cash', but crucially fails to address the broken funding model that is forcing ATM operators to convert. Under current legislation, only a tiny fraction of ATMs are ‘protected’ - receiving the right level of funding to keep them operational on a free-to-use basis.
“Unless more funding is given, households will be left with a very small number of free-to-use ATMs."
Notemachine already charges customers at 2,500 of its cash machines after introducing fees in 2019. Only 3,300 UK cashpoints have “protected” status and are guaranteed to remain free.
But the number of other machines that don’t charge has been dwindling over the years, with this figure now standing below 40,000. There were only 39,429 free ATMs in the UK at the end of 2022, according to data from the largest cash machine network, Link.
It comes despite a total of £83bn being withdrawn from ATMs in 2022, compared with £79bn the previous year. Bank branch closures are partly to blame for the disappearance of ATMs, with Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Banking Group this week announcing plans to shut at least another 81 bank branches.
It means Lloyds will close 62 branches in total this year, Halifax is to shut 32 and Bank of Scotland will close four. NatWest will shut 104 banks in 2023, while Royal Bank of Scotland will shut two.
HSBC has previously announced it will shutter 114 banks - around a quarter of its total sites - in 2023. Barclays will shut 60 sites in 2023, Santander will close five, Nationwide will close two and TSB has so far announced it will shut nine sites. Virgin Money is set to shut just one so far.
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