Today in the Scottish Parliament a Scottish Conservative Members’ Business debate will call for cross-party support to save ATMs.
The UK’s largest cashpoint network, LINK, announced that from 1 July 2018, it will reduce the interchange fee by 20%, with 5% planned annually. This means that thousands of ATMs are now at risk of shutting down across Scotland because they are no longer financially viable.
The Federation of Small Business has found that on average local ATMs inject some £16 per withdrawal directly into nearby stores, which amounts to £36 billion a year
A Further, UK-wide FSB research found that:
- 9% of small businesses would lose over £50 a day in revenue from not having access to a cash machine.
- 13% of small businesses fear they would lose customers if their nearest cash machine wasn’t operating.
Link’s decision has coincided with the that of RBS’ decision to close many branches – meaning an even shorter supply of free-to-use ATMs.
Rachael Hamilton MSP said: ‘Rural communities depend on free-to-use ATMs and our dependency on them was only going to grow with the closures of RBS branches coming to the Scottish Borders.
‘ATMs need to be saved. If they were to shut down it would cripple local economies and be a devastating blow to our local high streets.
‘It is time that the powers that be understand the implications on what taking away financial services will do to rural communities and small businesses. I for one stand with my colleagues and will fight to save our ATMs.’