Almost 1,700 free ATMs have started charging for cash withdrawals between January and March this year, with 1,250 becoming fee-paying in March alone.
Britons are facing an increasing struggle to find access to free-to-use cash machines as nearly 1,700 terminals were changed into fee-paying machines between January and March this year, new research has revealed.
According to figures obtained by Which?, more than 1,250 ATMs were converted to fee-paying machines in March alone.
The research was carried out by consumer group Which?, using data from ATM network Link.
Which? says the affected machines will now charge at least 95p for each cash withdrawal.
According to the consumer group, most of the affected ATMs are operated by Cardtronics, which has warned it may introduce charges for another 1,000 cash machines over the coming months.
The data has sparked concerns about people's access to cash, with both bank branches and ATMs disappearing, and Which? has called for a regulator to be created to make sure no one is cut off from cash. Nearly 1,700 machines started charging for withdrawals in the first three months of the year, with the majority starting to charge in March, according to the consumer lobby group.
Cardtronics, which runs most of those, and fellow provider NoteMachine are both likely to charge at more machines.
That could mean the country losing 13% of its free ATMs in only a few months.
The changes come after a reduction in the fee operators receive from banks each time an ATM is used.
Link, which oversees ATMs, began to cut the fee, known as the interchange rate, last year. So far it has reduced the charge from 25p to 23p per withdrawal.
Link said at the time that the move was aimed at protecting the ATM network. It left the fee for free-to-use ATMs - which are 1km or more from the next nearest cash machine - unchanged.
ATM operators receive the interchange fee from banks each time one of their cash machines is used. Last year, Link began to cut the fee, known as the interchange rate, from 25p to 20p per withdrawal over the course of four years to help protect the future of ATMs.
A spokeswoman for Cardtronics said: “We have been forced into charging a fee for cash withdrawals on some of our machines where Link’s cuts have left us with no choice.
“The decision on whether to introduce a fee is taken on a case-by-case basis and reflects the economic viability of the individual machine.
“We only ever charge a fee when there is no other option apart from removing the machine altogether.” Peter McNamara, chief executive of NoteMachine, said: "Unless urgent action is taken to reduce the pressure on ATM operators by reversing the interchange fee reductions, NoteMachine will be forced to begin converting ATMs to surcharging.
“This is a dilemma we have been grappling with for some time and are extremely reluctant to make such a decision.”
