ACS has written to Nicky Morgan MP, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, calling for the Committee and the Payment Systems Regulator to carefully scrutinise LINK’s plans to reduce interchange fees for ATMs.
In the letter, ACS expresses scepticism at LINK’s claims that they intend to ‘retain an extensive network of free ATMs for consumers’, as a cut in the interchange fee would inevitably lead to a decline in the number of cash machines available for consumers.
In response to concerns about their plans to cut interchange fees by 20% over the next four years, LINK have stated that the fee change will not apply to machines that are on their own with no others within a 1km radius. However, it is not clear how many machines this will affect.
Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said: “Convenience stores have invested in the provision of free cash machines as part of their commitment to serve thousands of communities, but this remains under threat by LINK’s proposals which could make many unviable. We need clarity on the number of cash machines that would be protected by the 1km proposal, as any removal of cash machines in rural and isolated communities would have a significant negative impact on both the stores housing them and other small businesses in the area.”
The 2017 Local Shop Report shows that 58% of stores in the convenience sector have a cash machine. 45% of stores provide a free to use cash machine, while 13% have charged cash machines.
The full letter is available here: https://cdn.acs.org.uk/public/nicky_morgan_letter_treasury_committee_-_atm_interchange_fees.pdf
