Residents face charge to use cash machine

Residents in a Scone neighbourhood have raised concerns since a nearby ATM began charging for cash withdrawals.

The machine, operated and owned by NoteMachine UK Ltd, is situated outside the Spar store on Abbey Road and began issuing a 99p charge per transaction last week.

However, the owners of the Spar store revealed they had nothing to do with the decision and so have generously pledged to introduce measures to help customers.

A sign put up next to the cash machine by the shop owners reads: “Unfortunately this cash machine will now charge you 99p to use it.

“This decision is completely out of our control as we have no say in how they choose to operate their cash machines.

“Because of this, we have completely waived our minimum spend in-store to try and help.

“We are also looking at the possibility of offering cashback to help customers the best we can. We sincerely apologise for this inconvenience.”

A number of residents turned to social media to vent their anger at the move on the Scone and District Community Council (SDCC) page, with one saying “[it is a] rip off, why would you pay to get your own money?”

Vanessa Shand, chair of the Scone and District Community Council (SDCC), hopes that the move won’t have a detrimental effect on the Spar business.

She said: “We didn’t know about it then somebody notified us about after it was installed.

“I feel really sorry for the Spar shop owners, but they have tried to mitigate this.

“They are going to mitigate this by waiving card charges, which I think were about £3 or so, to help locals.

“Many locals are not happy about it and don’t want to pay the fee and won’t use it.

“So the shop owners are trying to do something about it.”

The machine is one of three in Scone, with the other two located at a Tesco and an RBS on Perth Road, both of which have free withdrawals.

However Vanessa said it could have a negative impact on elderly residents who cannot access the other machines as easily.

“It could well do [have an impact] which is a great shame,” she added.

“Charging for the machines does have its disadvantages.

“But we do have really good bus service in Scone and the elderly do often use it.”

A spokesperson on behalf of NoteMachine said: “Despite having traditionally operated a free-to-use model, NoteMachine has been forced to take the regrettable decision to introduce surcharging on a number of its ATMs.

“This is due to reductions in the interchange fee, by which banks pay independent ATM operators, which have made a number of our machines economically unviable.

“Our machines are ordinarily in areas with fewer ways to access cash, largely due to the large-scale closure of bank branches.

“Thus the decision to cut the interchange fee, which has been taken under pressure from the banks, is having an impact on communities. For two and a half years we have been asking the government to intervene to reverse these cuts, and allow us to continue to provide free access to cash to communities.

“We are happy to speak to consumers, retailers and local MPs with regard to this issue.”