LINK takes forward Treasury Select Committee recommendations

LINK welcomes the Treasury Select Committee and government's recognition of its work to ensure transparency of any charges at any cash machine that it allows to connect to its network, and its contribution to taking forward the Treasury Select Committee recommendations.

In 2005 the LINK Card Scheme introduced rules requiring any cash machine connected to its network to carry clear warnings of surcharges on both the screen and casing of machines that levy a charge.  LINK conducts independent surveys into compliance with these rules, and has applied fines where machines have been confirmed not to meet them.

No evidence has so far been presented to show that the rules now in force are not sufficient to ensure consumers do not unwittingly incur charges.  Consumers also appear well able to identify free cash machines - 96% of all cash withdrawals are made at free cash machines.  Now that the new LINK rules have been in place for several months, LINK Members have, however, commissioned independent research into their effectiveness.

Edwin Latter, Card Scheme Director said "LINK is committed to full transparency of charges, and the work of achieving that is never over.  It continues actively to consider next steps, both with regard to enforcing the existing rules, and reviewing potential improvements to those rules.  In considering next steps, care needs to be taken that these provide real benefit to consumers, without simply imposing extra costs on the operators of free cash machines and thereby making it less attractive to maintain existing and install new free machines."

Any member of the public with access to the internet can find their nearest free and surcharging cash machines from the LINK database, the most accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive record available of cash machine location.

-Ends-

Notes for Editors

In 2005 as a whole, 500 machines converted from free to surcharging, whereas 210 converted from surcharging to free.  The total number of free machines very modestly increased, however, as the effect of conversions to surcharging was narrowly outweighed by the installation of new free machines at non-branch locations (despite a slight fall in the number of machines at bank branches).

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