Credit Card charges via Machine withdrawal New Tax ?

Rafter

I think the machines in post offices should be free and part of Link, but otherwise don't have a problem with charging 'convenience' machines.

Interesting that Link say it 'costs' ~30p for every single withdrawl though.

So if I bank with HSBC and withdraw from a Halifax machine, HSBC have to pay halifax ~30p

Similarly, I don't use cash very much and withdraw a reasonable sum once every 2 weeks so I make about 24 withdrawls a year at a cost of £7.20 a year to my bank.

Someone who makes 2-3 withdrawls a week is costing the bank £39 a year!

My point is, should those who bank 'efficiently' , not making loads of withdrawls, not writing loads of cheques etc get a better rate of interest?

I think I'm a fan of 'free' banking, but I do object to 'subsidising' people who insist on writing inefficient cheques and running up costs for my bank! Particularly when I'm behind them in a supermarket queue!

Walletwatch

Rafter wrote:

My point is, should those who bank 'efficiently' , not making loads of withdrawls, not writing loads of cheques etc get a better rate of interest?

Good idea, especially as it would work in my favour, but obviously don't see such a policy seeing the light of day in the near future ;-)

Meanwhile, I agree with other posters and really don't see anything wrong with the practice of some convenience-ATMs charging for withdrawals, so far as these charges are clearly indicated, etc.

cloud_dog

A couple of points I'd like to make - whilst we're all sharing

If you don't like the charges for using an ATM - don't use it. If the use of charges become more prevalent, change banks. If the use of charges continues withdraw your money at the branch by cheque. As someone said Banks are always looking to maximise profits. Apathy will cause the introduction / escalation of fee charging bank ATM's.

The other point is that the percentage increases in free / fee ATM's is somewhat misleading and headline grabbing. Obviously there are many, many, many, more free ATM's than fee ATM's, therefore percentages do not tell the true picture. I think (although am not 100% on this - radio program) that the actual numbers of free ATM's introduced in 2004 were slightly highre than new fee ATM's.

cloud_dog

MarkyMarkD

Wow - so nice to hear from so many of you who actually understand the issues of ATM charging, and don't adopt the ridiculous "charging is evil ... let's have lots of ATMs, but they all have to be free" approach espoused by the Nationwide.

The facts surrounding ATM network expansion are incontravertible. There are MORE free ATMs now than there have ever been. There are also far more charging ATMs now than there have ever been - for those who wish to PAY for the privilege of using them.

That's how a free market works.

If people use charging machines, and don't want to pay, "Just say no" when the machine tells you "you will be charged £1.50 if you continue this transaction". Easy. And walk to another free ATM or learn a lesson and plan your cash usage more accurately in future.

The arguments re people on benefits are, frankly, rubbish. Nearly all the banks allow free withdrawals at post office counters. If your bank doesn't, move to one which does. If your local bank/post office/shop has an ATM operated by a particular bank, which is free for their customers, but not for you, CHANGE BANKS. E.g. our nearest post office has a charging A&L ATM, but it's free if you bank with A&L.

There's no reason why ATM usage should be free - as a previous poster pointed out, a regular ATM user could cost their bank say £39 per annum. I'd rather have a higher interest rate than cross-subsidise those who choose to withdraw £10 or £20 every single day of their life, for reasons best known to themselves.

And why are people so bothered about spending cash in any case? Use a debit/credit card for the majority of transactions (with cashback as appropriate) and you will hardly ever need to withdraw cash anyway.

pin

Most of what you guys say is true, however would like to raise a few issues, if you don't mind.

Re: "Nearly all banks allow free withdrawals at post office counters": at present only seven banks allow withdrawls on your current account, also a further 17 allow withdrawals on a basic bank account only. Also have you seen the post office lines, especially at lunch time?

Re: try making as many transactions not using cash: that's fine, but if you cannot have access to a credit card / debit card due to circumstances (such as you are too young), you have no choice but to use ATMs to withdraw money.

Apart from that, the rest is probably all right (I think).

student100

One thing that does annoy me is that in some cases some pubs, restaurants etc. that used to/ought to accept credit/debit card payments are instead installing charging ATMs within their premises, and then when someone tries to pay by card they are told "we don't take cards, but there is a cash machine behind you". Now OK, you don't have to use the suggested ATM, but if you were expecting to be able to pay by card and there are no bank ATMs nearby this effectively adds £1.50 to the cost of the transaction.

Galstonian

I'm pleased we covered such a broad range of opinions over on the credit ard forum but as some have pointed out it relates more to current accounts so I moved it here.

I have every sympathy with people who feel they are forced into the position of having to use fee charging machines but nevertheless there is still a choice of convenience versus cost. If I felt that things were getting more incovenient for me I would accept the need to put pressure on banks to maintain their ATM networks but to be honest that is not something I see around here. All of the fee charging ATMs are in addition to the free ATMs, the only exception was the one at the cinema which was initially free then changed to charging fees; given that it is less than half a mile to three other free ATMs and the cinema accepts debit cards I'm afraid I have little sympathy with anyone who uses it on a regular basis. I have yet to see a fee charging ATM outside a bank or supermarket.

I think we should have a campaign to educate people who choose to spend a large percenatge of their income in fees at ATMs rather than villifying businesses for doing what businesses are supposed to do - find a market and make money from it.

jen_jen_2

What everyone is saying is true, however i cant believe that banks will do us any favours and in x years time there will be no free cash machines or cashback if we dont complain about it now.

If the banks get feedback that its okay to pay if you cant be bothered to walk down the road then why should they go to the expense of providing free ones when we're all prepared to pay.

I cant believe everyone is so niave to believe that the banks wont sell off their machines, did people initially believe they wouldnt close down all their local branches and said i'll only make a stand if its mine?

Fatboy_NSS

The banks aren't going to get rid of their free machines any time soon. As my area manager points out frequently, it costs us 10p to process a transaction at the ATM compared to £1 at the counter. If we got rid of the free ATMs at our branches the customers would simply come to the counter which would cost us a lot more. However it doesn't make sense for banks to have ATMs offsite any more as they are more expensive to maintain and they don't provide a competitive advantage as customers of any bank can use them for free.

MarkyMarkD

Fatboy_NSS wrote:

The banks aren't going to get rid of their free machines any time soon. As my area manager points out frequently, it costs us 10p to process a transaction at the ATM compared to £1 at the counter. If we got rid of the free ATMs at our branches the customers would simply come to the counter which would cost us a lot more. However it doesn't make sense for banks to have ATMs offsite any more as they are more expensive to maintain and they don't provide a competitive advantage as customers of any bank can use them for free.

You've got to the nub of the matter there, Fatboy.

If any "free" machines are under threat, it's those at supermarkets, service stations (especially on motorways), railway stations, etc. In these locations the site owner can make far more money from the provider of a paying machine than a free machine, so having "free" machines is only if they want to do it as a customer benefit.

But "free" machines at bank/building society branches are likely to stay free. So the position won't get materially worse than it was a few years ago before the huge expansion in charging machines.