Shoppers back calls to ban fee-charging ATMs
MP Gerard’s crusade nets area’s support
Gerard Killen, MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, is on a crusade against fee-charging ATMs because he fears a rapid increase of them if residents run out of local options for access to cash withdrawals.
The threat of cash withdrawal charges is a genuine concern for local residents also, who said additional fees would add insult to injury.
Retired painter and decorator Robert Gartshore, 72, said: “With bank branches closing throughout the area, it is only right that cash machines remain free to use.
“I went to use an ATM on Dukes Road the other day and was going to be charged around £1.50. I wouldn’t use it, I wouldn’t pay it.”
Willie McDougall of Burnside also objected to ATM charges.
“I wouldn’t pay to make a cash withdrawal locally and I shouldn’t have to,” he said.
Margaret Clark from Cambuslang said: “ATMs should remain free to use, after all Cambuslang no longer has any banks and not everyone is passing other branches or free ATMs on the way to work.
“I have used a fee-charging cash machine but reluctantly, only in an emergency.”
The needs of residents who don’t often leave the area were at the forefront of Elizabeth Dunn of Burnside’s mind.
“We need free to use cash machines for local residents,” she said. “We have few enough amenities as it is.”
I wouldn’t pay to make a cash withdrawal locally and I shouldn’t have to Willie McDougall