UK Government blamed for rise of pay to use ATMs

Dundee East MP, Stewart Hosie, has requested an urgent meeting with NoteMachine, the UK's second largest provider of ATMs, over their plans to convert 3000 of their 7000 ATMs from free to use to pay to use.

The provider accused the UK Government of failing to listen to their concerns and blamed successive cuts to the LINK interchange fee – the fee paid by banks to ATM providers per cash withdrawal – for leading to the maintaining of free to use ATMs as "economically unviable".

At present 98% of NoteMachine ATMs nationwide are free to use however the provider will begin converting, at a rate of 300 per week, free to use ATMs to pay to use.

It is unclear at this point how many ATMs in Dundee East will be affected by the change.

Stewart Hosie MP said:

"This is deeply concerning news and will come as a shock, not just to retailers and shop owners with NoteMachine ATMs in Dundee East but, to the poorest communities in the constituency who rely the most on free access to cash."

"I'm aware, through the level of correspondence my office has received, that his has been an issue of great importance to retailers and constituents for some time. People across Dundee East who once had readily available free to use ATMs nearby already face fees to take out cash. This announcement will see the number of affected communities significantly rise."

"I have requested an urgent meeting with NoteMachine to achieve greater clarity over which, and how many, communities will be affected by these changes and how we can work to restore free access to cash."

"As NoteMachine have told me, successive cuts to the LINK interchange fee have driven this unfortunate decision. The UK Government must take urgent action to review the fee structure to ensure as many communities as possible can retain their free to use ATMs."

ENDS