600 free ATMs for low income areas

The Parliamentary ATM Working Group has struck a deal with leading banks and cash machine operators and the Treasury to provide 600 new non-charging cash machines in the country’s lower income areas. The working group has also agreed that every charging cash machine should have prominent signs to inform customers about what they will be charged for cash withdrawals. This is part of the government’s financial inclusion strategy to help people start up bank accounts and gain access to those accounts easily and cheaply.

Some suitable locations for free cash machines have already been identified and the MPS and local authorities will be approached to seek advice on additional locations. They will also be considering how planning permission policies could be amended to consider the importance of installing free cash machines in areas that have no access to these facilities. Leading banks and building societies will pay a premium to cash machine operators for the setup and maintenance of ATMs at these new sites, as an incentive for the lower ATM use expected in these areas.

Working group chairman John McFall commented: ‘This is a huge step forward in our campaign for financial inclusion. The banks, building societies and cash machine operators who have worked with us on this plan deserve to be congratulated for their constructive and innovative work, which will mean a huge expansion in access to free cash machines for people in low income areas, vital for economic activity in those areas.’

Treasury Secretary Ed Balls said the committee had been making good progress with encouraging people to open bank accounts. He added that helping them to access and manage those accounts was a key part of the strategy.

The new move has been widely welcomed by banks and building societies, while consumer organisation Which has called on the agencies involved to make sure the strategy is sustainable in the long term.