New cash machine rules means Brits could soon be paying more to withdraw cash
It comes as figures reveal cashpoints across the UK are shutting down at a rate of 300 every month
NEW ATM rules could mean Brits forking out every time they withdraw cash, a consumer watchdog has warned.
It comes as figures reveal cashpoints across the UK are shutting down at a rate of 300 every month.
Changes to the way the ATM network is funded come into effect on July 1st - and experts from Which? have warned the changes could spark mass closures and commonplace withdrawal fees.
Operator Link is to cut the fees operators receive from banks when ATMs are used tomorrow morning.
But some in the industry have warned that thousands of free cash machines could be at risk of being removed or changed to fee-charging, with the possibility of “cash deserts” being created across the UK
Link said there would be a phased reduction in the interchange fee - the fee card issuers pay ATM operators - starting next week.
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The position will then be reviewed annually, taking into account the impact on consumers, with a 20 per cent reduction in interchange fees eventually anticipated after four years.
Link said the effect was expected to be “a modest decline in the number of ATMs in areas where they are heavily concentrated but with no diminution in the overall geographical coverage”.
Which? found that almost 1,500 machines closed between November last year and April, which it said was a near six-fold increase from a steady rate of fewer than 50 closures a month since 2015.
The investigation found that machines in rural communities were at least as badly hit as urban areas - down 2.1 per cent and 2 per cent respectively - across the UK.
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