Free ATM scheme backed by charity

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Free ATM scheme backed by charity

Wed 13th Dec 2006

Many banks and cash machine operators have thrown their weight behind a campaign to provide poorer areas with free to use ATMs, a scenario hailed by the national charity Citizens Advice.

There are around 58,000 cash machines in the UK at present and of these, four out of ten charge a fee to use them. A report commissioned by Citizens Advice, entitled Out of Pocket, has discovered that it is people living in under-privileged areas who are the most affected by ATM charges.

The government had recognised that plight of the worst affected by setting up a cash machine taskforce that aims to make free cash machines more readily available in certain, designated areas of the UK.

Teresa Perchard, director of policy at Citizens Advice, stated: "Not having free access to money hits poorer people hard, forcing them to travel miles to the nearest free machine or to pay to access their money.

"Finding sites and getting planning permission does seem to be a stumbling block in some areas, so we need this joined-up approach with banks, local authorities and local groups all working together."

A total of 600 non-charging cash machines are set to become fixtures in poorer areas thanks to a deal struck between the government and Britain's banks and ATM providers.

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