ATM charges to go under the microscope

Charges for using cash machines are to be put under the spotlight, as the government has called a meeting to examine why people are still paying to withdraw their own money.

Members of the Treasury are to call a meeting with politicians and representatives from banks and cash machine businesses to discuss why some cash machines charge people as much as £1.50 to withdraw money.

In a Westminster Hall debate yesterday, economic secretary to the Treasury Ivan Lewis said: "[I]t is important to remember that we have a joint responsibility to keep an exceptionally close eye on the situation. It needs to be made clear that we shall do so; we will keep the matter under review. We expect the financial institutions to honour the commitments that they have made to the government and the select committee, and retain the right to act if they fail to do so."

There are 55,000 cash machines in the UK, of which 30,000 are bank-owned and free to use, while the rest are owned by independent ATM deployers who tend to charge for transactions.

Around 33 million people used cash machines in 2004 and £5,000 was withdrawn every second, according to figures from Apacs, the industry body for the banking industry.

Figures from ATM company LINK found that in 2005, 500 machines were converted from free to surcharging, while only 210 were made free.

LINK yesterday put out a statement that said people understand when they are being charged for withdrawing money.

It said: "In 2005 the LINK Card Scheme introduced rules requiring any cash machine connected to its network to carry clear warnings of surcharges... No evidence has so far been presented to show that the rules now in force are not sufficient to ensure consumers do not unwittingly incur charges.

"Any member of the public with access to the internet can find their nearest free and surcharging cash machines from the LINK database."