Nationwide calls for cash machine code

Nationwide Building Society has today called on the banking industry to adopt a code of practice with regard to fee charging cash machines.

16:44 25 January 2005

Nationwide Building Society has today called on the banking industry to adopt a code of practice with regard to fee charging cash machines.

The building society makes its case as the owners of some of the 21,000 charging cash machines in the UK prepare to face a grilling from MPs over the matter.

"Owners of cash machines that charge are now collecting 140 million a year in fees from consumers which is more than double the amount UK consumers paid for withdrawals in the previous year," said Stuart Bernau, Nationwide's executive director.

"We hope a code of practice can be devised which will make it easier for consumers to differentiate between charging and free machines and which will ensure consumers are treated fairly."

The building society has found that 40 per cent of the UK's cash machine network is now fee charging, and if these machines keep increasing in number at their current rate there will be more fee charging than free cash machines by the end of the year.

However, alongside the growth in fee-charging machines, the number of free machines has risen as well - albeit at a far slower rate - meaning there are now more places to withdraw cash free than 12 months ago.

Nationwide has found that people are still being caught out by fee charging cash machines.

While people in the South East are the most likely to be caught out by unclear charging messages, they are also the least likely to use fee-paying machines, with just 11 per cent of those questioned using a fee charging machine in the previous two months.

In London almost one person in five (23 per cent) was found to have used a cash machine that charges, but only 13 per cent of these people were caught unawares.