Citizens Advice: Free cash machines

Sue Edwards, senior policy officer, Citizens Advice, "This is good news and shows that real progress is being made to give vulnerable people on low incomes greater access to free cash machines and we acknowledge the work that both Ed Balls and John McFall have done on this issue.

Citizens Advice research in 2006 identified the existence of free ATM ‘deserts’, poor communities which had little or no access to a free cash machine, and showed the disproportionate impact these charges have on low income groups such as pensioners and families on low incomes.

The key now is to keep up the momentum and ensure that the poorest areas in the country are prioritised. Local Citizens Advice bureaux will continue working with providers such as HSBC and local authorities to help identify sites for further free cash machines. We also look forward to hearing more about the improvements providers are making to their signage on fee-charging machines so that people are fully aware if they are going to be charged for a withdrawal. "

Citizens Advice published a report in July 2006, called Out of Pocket, which identified the existence of free ATM ‘deserts’, areas with no free ATMs, often in deprived areas, with signage on fee-charging ATMs also found to be poor. In 1999 virtually all cash machines, known as ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) in the UK were free, but of the 58,000 cash machines now operating, 40% charge a fee regardless of the size of withdrawal. A survey of 265 ATM’s by Citizens Advice Bureaux showed that the quality of signage at many fee-charging ATM’s was poor. 99 per cent of people who responded to an online survey said they were aware that there are fee-charging ATMs, but nearly half said that they were not warned in advance that they would be charged for a withdrawal.