Cashpoints vanishing from our high streets

More than 300 ATMs being closed a month One a day going from rural Scots communities

RURAL Scots have been the worst affected by the ‘frightening pace’ of the UK’s vanishing cash machine epidemic, say researchers.

A total of 146 automatic teller machines (ATMs) closed in Scotland between November 22 last year and March 31, according to consumer advice organisation Which?

This is a rate of more than one per day, with rural communities losing an average of eight per month.

The combined effect of removing cash machines and closing branches is causing distress to individual customers and small businesses, who have to spend time and money travelling miles to bank takings.

The move is said to be part of a break-up of Britain’s banking system that has also seen hundreds of community branches closed with thousands of job losses.

The figures are based on an analysis of data from the LINK organisation, which oversees the national network.

Harry Rose, Which? money editor, said: ‘These cuts could see millions of people who rely on cash in their daily lives struggling through these closures – with severe consequences for many Scottish communities and businesses.

‘The impact of these cuts is already clear – with machines closing at a frightening pace.

‘The regulator must act now to stop further closures and ensure that consumers aren’t suddenly stripped of their access to cash.’

Which? believes there are already 200 communities in Britain with poor cash machine provision, or no ATMs, and this is now likely to get much worse.

Independent card machine operators have confirmed widespread closures, although the figures published by Which? are hotly disputed by LINK. According to Which?, almost 1,500 of the machines – split equally between those owned and run by independent operators and banks themselves – were removed across the UK. This equates to more than 300 a month, which is a six-fold increase from a steady rate of fewer than 50 closures a month since 2015.

The closures appear to be a direct result of changes to the way LINK runs and funds the cash machine network, which come into effect on Sunday. The key change involves cutting the ‘interchange’ fee banks pay the operators of cash machines for every withdrawal made by a customer from 25p to 20p in annual steps over four years.

The net effect is independent operators, such as NoteMachine, argue it will no longer be economic for them to run machines that offer free cash withdrawals.

Cardtronics, the world’s largest non-bank ATM operator, recently told members of the Commons Scottish affairs committee that Scotland could be braced to lose more than a third of all the company’s ATMs.

Its corporate affairs director, Duncan Faithfull, said: ‘In Scotland, just to give you some idea of numbers, of the 1,600 we have we are reviewing 600.’

The ATM Industry Association, which speaks for the operators, whose machines are typically found in corner shops and petrol stations, said the current network of 55,000 ATMs could be ripped apart.

It warns the network is on a ‘path to disaster’ with as many as 25,000-30,000 likely to be removed over the next few years.

Which? and the Federation of Small Businesses have launched a campaign to ‘Save Our Cashpoints’. They are calling on the Payment Systems Regulator to conduct an urgent review to fully evaluate the effect that the changes will have on communities and consumers.

LINK says it is taking measures to protect those in rural communities or in areas where there is not another free to use machine.

But the research by Which? shows the loss of cash machines has actually been slightly worse in rural locations since news of the changes emerged in November.

Which? said Scotland’s rural network was the hardest hit, suffering a 2.9 per cent loss versus a fall of 2.1 per cent in urban areas.

LINK said its changes are designed to reflect the fact people are switching away from cash to plastic cards for payments which means it is no longer viable to have so many ATMs, particularly in towns and cities.

A spokesman said: ‘LINK’s announcement looks to address protecting the coverage of machines in a declining market.

‘This will be done by reducing the interchange paid in busy city centres where there is over provision of machines and increasing the interchange rate paid in more remote or rural areas.

‘This will mean while the number of machines is likely to fall in over-provided areas, overall coverage will be protected for consumers.’

The spokesman added: ‘Which? has suggested that ATMs have fallen by 1,500 in the period between November 2017 and March 2018, however, LINK can confirm that during this period the number of free-to-use ATMs actually increased.

‘More importantly, coverage of free-to-use machines improved over this period with the net number of postcodes with free access across the UK increasing by five, including one in Scotland.’

A spokesman for Which? said the body stands by its research.

‘Machines closing at frightening pace’ ‘Coverage will be protected’