Fee-charging ATMs investigated by MPs

MPs will today be questioning Link over the proliferation of cash machines which charge customers fees.

08:55 21 December 2004

MPs will today be questioning Link over the proliferation of cash machines which charge customers fees.

More than one in three machines now charge for making a transaction, with fees often between 1.25 and 1.75.

Recent research from the Nationwide building society found that the number of fee-charging ATMs grew by 29 per cent during the first seven months of 2004.

This is compared to the number of free machines, which grew by only 0.3 per cent during the same period.

There are concerns that these charges most affect people on low incomes, as they are more likely to make smaller, more frequent withdrawals.

Last April, Link, which runs the majority of bank cash machines in the UK, said that fee-charging machines should carry stickers or on-screen messages warning users that they would be charged.

ATM providers Moneybox, Cardpoint and Hanco charge consumers up to 140 million a year to use their cash machines, Nationwide has said.

The majority of these are located in petrol stations, pubs and convenience stores.