Rescue scheme ‘will save only one in 25 ATMs’

A PLAN to save cash machines in isolated areas will protect just one in 25 from closure, campaigners say.

Big banks are demanding a cut in the fees they pay when a customer withdraws money from an independently operated ATM.

This would make some machines unviable – depriving retailers and shoppers in small towns and villages of basic financial services.

To head off these concerns, the Link network, which oversees 70,000 free ATMs, pledged not to cut the fees banks pay at the most isolated locations. But it is claimed this would protect just 2,200 ATMs – 4 per cent of the network.

Ron Delnevo of the ATM Industry Association, which compiled the figures, said: ‘This isn’t going to be solved by minor concessions. We need a complete halt to this plan and a full independent inquiry.’