ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to new figures published by Which? on the amount of cash machines being converted to charge fees, calling for urgent action to secure consumers’ access to cash.
Figures obtained by Which? show that fees of at least 95p per withdrawal have been imposed on 1,700 machines between January and March this year. Which? report that around three quarters of these fees have been introduced in March alone.
The catalyst for changes to ATMs has been LINK’s reduction of the interchange fee for ATM transactions. The first reduction in interchange fees enforced by LINK of five per cent (equivalent to 1.25p per transaction) took effect on 1st July 2018, with the second five per cent reduction taking place on 1st January 2019.
ACS has consistently warned that LINK’s decision to lower the interchange fees paid by banks to card machine operators would result in communities’ access to cash being threatened. While LINK have amended their position and put some of its future interchange fee cuts on hold, Which? evidence shows that machines are already being removed or switched to a pay-to-use model as a result of the cuts that have taken place. LINK’s interchange fee cuts, first imposed in 2018, have also been widely criticised by the Treasury Select Committee, consumer group Which?, the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group and other business groups.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “LINK’s decision to cut interchange fees was designed to reduce the number of cash machines operating in the UK, but with banks also withdrawing from high streets and town centres at an alarming rate, there are significant gaps appearing in provision, leaving convenience stores as often the only place where consumers have free access to cash. With hundreds of machines a month now either being moved to a pay-to-use model or taken away completely, access to cash is suffering irreparable damage. Action must be taken now to ensure that all communities in the UK can access their cash when they need it.”
The Payment Systems Regulator is currently considering evidence ahead of the publication of an interim report at the end of 2019. In its annual plan, published in March, the regulator set out a number of priority areas, including ‘monitoring the impact of LINK’s cut to interchange fees on the UK’s network of free to use ATMs’. ACS is working closely with the regulator to provide information about the provision of ATMs in convenience stores.
The full release from Which? is available here: https://press.which.co.uk/whichstatements/end-of-free-cash-withdrawals-which-raises-alarm-as-almost-1700-free-machines-become-fee-charging/
