Payments

UK ATM network exec warns of decrease of 23,000 free ATMs

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December 5, 2023

John Howells, chief executive of Link, has warned the U.K. will lose 23,000 surcharge free ATMs in less than 10 years. He said this is due to an increase in credit and debit card usage and other digital payments, according to a Yahoo! Finance report.

The decease will, in many cases, be relegated to duplicate ATMs on high traffic streets and will likely go from 38,000 to 15,000.

"We have got duplication of free ATMs in busy high streets, so there is a lot of saving that can be done without affecting consumers at all. That will save the banks money and allow the ATM operators to be profitable," Howells told Yahoo.

In the U.K., around one in 10 transactions are made in cash. However, the move to eliminate ATMs will impact others who rely on cash, such as the elderly and 3.1 million who use cash for almost all payments.

The government passed the 2023 Financial Services and Markets Act to protect access to free ATMs, but Howells said the act didn't go far enough.

He also pointed to safety issues with digital payments, such as digital apps to pay for parking, which have impacted the elderly who may not have access to those payment options.

"Car parking is the canary in the coal mine of what will happen if we don't get a grip on this," he told Yahoo. "Never mind the fact that these apps in most car parks I don't think are safe to use. Somebody's stuck a number on a wall in a car park and you give them your credit card number. That's absolutely nuts."