10,000 free cash machines could be axed in shake-up

UP TO 10,000 cash machines could be axed across the country, it emerged yesterday, devastating towns and villages hit by the closure of thousands of bank branches.

Banks have demanded a cut in the fees they pay ATM operators when money is withdrawn by one of their customers from another firm’s cashpoint.

But independent cash machine operators warn it could make a string of sites uneconomical and force them to shut.

The threat has led to concerns that towns and villages where the last bank branch has already closed will be left with no financial services, leaving vulnerable and elderly people without their own transport unable to get any money.

Insiders said the proposals followed intensive lobbying by Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns NatWest.

RBS has shut at least 695 branches in five years, while Lloyds is axing at least 100 this year in a series of 400 closures. The ATM Industry Association, which represents independent cash-machine owners, said 10,000 free cash machines out of a total of 55,000 could be axed.

Ron Delnevo, head of its European operations, said the ‘potentially catastrophic’ proposals would ‘lead to a vast reduction in free access to cash for Brit- ish citizens and businesses’. He added: ‘Any money saved by a tiny number of banks will effectively be at the expense of already hard-pressed consumers. Communities will wither because there is no local convenient access to cash.’

The UK’s cash machine network is overseen by Link, a group backed by 38 cash-machine owners and card issuers. When a customer takes money from one of the 22,000 ATMs owned by independent operators such as Cardtronics or Paypoint their bank is charged 25p.

But after Lloyds and RBS claimed this was too high, Link proposed a 20 per cent cut, meaning the independents would only get 20p per withdrawal.

Link said it would ‘maintain an extensive network of free- to- use cash machines’. But it claimed card and contactless payments were replacing cash.

However, Victoria Cleland, the Bank of England’s chief cashier, said the number of banknotes in circulation was increasing, and 2.7million Britons relied almost entirely on cash to make payments.

RBS said: ‘We are committed to working with the industry and Link to ensure we continue to offer access to ATM’s at no cost to them, particularly vulnerable customers and those in rural areas.’

Lloyds said: ‘Any changes should ensure ATMs are in the right areas for consumers, providing free access to cash, strengthening financial inclusion and supporting vulnerable customers.’

‘Potentially catastrophic’