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Local MP, John Austin is backing a campaign to end the imposition of charges at ATM cash machines, or to make the charging more transparent. He says: “Customers are being ripped off by some banks. On some machines it is difficult to know if a charge is being made or if so how much.
(John Austin is pictured above at a recent campaign meeting organized by the Nationwide)
John Austin said: “Some banks charge customers of other banks but the Alliance & Leicester charges at 40% of its own machines. The Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest do not charge at their own branded machines, but they own charging operator Hanco, which is one of the biggest players in the fee-charging market, with almost 30% of the market.”
The House of Commons Treasury Select Committee recently published a report on charging cash machines, which called for greater transparency in making customers aware they would be charged for using a fee-charging machine. The report found that customers were charged some £140 million to withdraw their own money in 2004, and that those on low incomes were hit hardest by the charges.
John Austin added: “The situation seems to have got worse and estimates suggest that the British public paid over £200 million in charges to withdraw their own money in 2005. The Nationwide estimates that this figure will rise to a staggering £250 million this year. The number of charging machines has actually increased since the Treasury Committee’s report. I do not want to see a situation where consumers are routinely charged to access their own money”.
“I would like to see the banks adopt a voluntary code to display clear green and red signs, as proposed by the Nationwide, to allow consumers to see instantly whether they will be charged for using a machine. And I would also like to see banks pledge not to sell off any more of their networks to fee charging operators”.
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