News
Four million still prevented from using cash machine network
LINK, the UK cash machine network, has found in its annual Consumer Committee Report, that despite successfully installing 740 new free-to-use ATMs in the country's most deprived areas, four million consumers with government-issued Post Office Card Accounts - used for withdrawing benefits - are still unable to use them.
This means these cardholders are instead obliged to travel to a post office, or queue at a post office counter during opening hours.
The Report calls on the new government to reconsider the restriction imposed by its predecessor and to help those on benefits access their cash more easily.
The Report also describes the hopes of LINK's Consumer Committee to install free-to-use cash machines in some lower-income areas that remain on their target list for communities that would benefit most. These include Kirkby in Liverpool, Queensway in Scunthorpe, Luton south, Caerau in South Wales, and some rural parts of Cornwall, particularly around Land's End. LINK is aiming to target these areas in the year ahead by looking for suitable premises for ATMs, and would like to hear from local community leaders and businesses who could help to identify appropriate sites.
The 740 free-to-use cash machines introduced since 2006 have proven extremely popular - with a total of 17 million cash withdrawals, 10 million balance enquiries, as well as PIN change and Mobile Phone Top Up transactions at these ATMs in the first half of 2010 alone.
