STOP CASHING IN ON THE POOR

Budget plea to ban unfair charges for using ATM

PHILIP Hammond must use next week’s Budget to ban cash machines that charge for withdrawing money, a Scots Labour MP has demanded.

Ged Killen wants the Chancellor to secure free access to cash to help save Scotland’s high streets and stop plunging people into poverty.

Nearly 1000 cash machines run by the Link network charge a fee in Scotland.

Killen believes the charges, which are about £1.50 to £2 per transaction, force more people into poverty.

He says people on low incomes often draw smaller amounts more regularly than the better off.

Cash machines around the UK are closing at a rate of 300 every month, with rural communities worst hit, according to analysis by Which?.

The plug was pulled on almost 1500 machines on the Link network between November 2017 and April this year, partly because the dramatic increase in contactless payments for small transactions made cash less necessary.

Killen, MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said: “Hammond should throw high streets a lifeline and scrap ATM charges.

“By doing so and introducing stricter rules around access to banking, we can focus on how we best provide these services where they are needed and for free. “No one should have to pay to access their own money.

“When ATMs and bank branches disappear, lending to small businesses decreases, footfall on the high street goes and the risk of financial exclusion grows.

“If we are serious about financial inclusion and economic development outside metropolitan areas, we should seek to protect the services people rely on.”

Labour have already promised legislation to remove charges on cash machines. They have also pledged to introduce a legal requirement for access to free cash.

The SNP have called for next Monday’s Budget to include guarantees over future sales of RBS shares that would maximise returns for the public purse.