LINK and its Members welcome and support work to improve consumer understanding of which cash machines provide free cash withdrawals and which charge for withdrawals.
Edwin Latter, LINK Card Scheme Director, said: "LINK and its Members are committed to ensuring that cardholders are not charged unwittingly for cash withdrawals, and strongly support transparency of cash machine charges.
That is why, in July last year, LINK introduced a range of new rules requiring cash machines to have at least three layers of warnings about charges including:
Operators of cash machines that do not comply with these rules face fines. In conjunction with GfK NOP, LINK has conducted an extensive survey of compliance. Before these rules came into force 36% of ATMs had neither the external nor initial on-screen warning (though all asked the customer to confirm acceptance of the charge before completing the transaction). In October / November last year GfK NOP and LINK found that less than 1% of machines had neither of these warnings. In all these cases, operators have committed to take remedial action. (1)
Cardholders can make a free withdrawal from any cash machine that does not carry the obligatory surcharge warnings (96% of cash withdrawals take place at free machines).
Operators of 'free' cash machines have strong incentives to advertise that their machines are free to cardholders - the cardholder's bank pays the ATM operator for every withdrawal made at their machines. Many ATM operators have therefore invested significant sums in advertising free withdrawals in a way that they consider best matches their particular brand design and colours. The majority of LINK members do not consider that further regulation of signs at free machines is necessary, proportionate or would justify costs that would ultimately be borne by consumers.
This latest survey by Which? provides no evidence that consumers actually using charging machines are unable to identify that they charge. However, LINK and its Members recently commissioned independent research based on cardholders using charging ATMs. LINK and its Members will consider carefully the results of this research in deciding how transparency can be further improved.
-ENDS-
Notes for Editors:
(1) Full results from the survey can be found in the LINK press release of 13 December [http://www.link.co.uk/press/2005/mn_press_release_131205.htm]
(2) All but a handful of ATMs in the UK are connected to the LINK network.
(3) LINK publishes on its website information on the number of free and charging cash machines as well as data on trends in the number of transactions that are charged. See www.link.co.uk for details.
(4) LINK operates the UK 's ATM network and sets the rules for participation in that network. LINK does not levy surcharges on transactions, or take a share in any surcharge made by ATM operators. LINK considers that surcharging is a legitimate business model - offering increased access to cash and supporting local businesses in places where ATMs would otherwise not exist - providing that charges are fully transparent to cardholders.
Press Enquiries:
LINK Press Contacts
Edwin Latter
Card Scheme Director
LINK Interchange Network
Tel: 01423 356389
Mobile: 07974 326 389
elatter@link.co.uk
Graham Mott
Head of External Relations and Development (Schemes)
LINK Interchange Network Ltd
Mobile : 07974 326 374
gmott@link.co.uk
John Pinniger
External Relations Adviser
Primeword Communications
Tel: 020 7738 6000
Mobile : 07050 052 934
johnpinniger@primeword.com
Information for Editors
LINK Interchange Network Ltd is the Company that provides electronic transaction management services on behalf of the UK 's largest financial institutions and other commercial organisations. The Company manages the Card Scheme and provides the technical and commercial services, including arranging settlement, which make ATM sharing possible on the significant scale now seen. The LINK ATM network is the world's busiest shared ATM network with over 55,000 cash machines deployed and over 101 million LINK-enabled cards in issue. The Company processed and settled over 2.5 billion shared transactions during 2004. It also manages transactions for the basic bank accounts that form part of the Post Office's universal banking services programme and has implemented an ATM prepay top up service on behalf of mobile phone operators. The Company is pursuing opportunities to use its proven, secure and reliable network infrastructure to support the development and implementation of wider transaction management services including the aforementioned services.
