Diary of a cash machine crisis

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated: 18:00 EST, 27 March 2000

The row over charges for cash machines blew up last June when Abbey National and Midland broke ranks from the rest of the industry and decided to increase charges for customers using other banks' machines.

Two month later, Nationwide decided to take Barclays to court over the bank's plans to charge all non-customers for using its machines.

In February more than 2,000 Mail on Sunday readers wrote to the paper to complain about the current system, where customers can be charged twice for a single withdrawal, once by their own bank, once by the bank providing the cashpoint. The paper continues to campaign for a better deal for bank customers.

A month after the Mail on Sunday's report, Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers called in bank bosses to tell them double-charging for customers was unacceptable. He also said banks must notify users on screen of any charges they face before the transaction goes through.

Don Cruickshank, whose highly critical report into competiton in the banking industry was published in March, also demanded fairer, clearer charges for cashpoints.

Link, the bank body which represents the main cashpoint providers, has been desperate to provide a common line for the industry. Its board first met in Harrogate in February to produce guidelines to be introduced in 2001. That meeting broke up without agreement - and it met again on March 28 to try to solve the problems. The decision to abolish double charging from July 1, and only allow banks to levy pre-notified charges to non-customers from 2001 was broadly welcomed by consumer groups.

If you feel strongly about cash machine charges and want to take part in future campaigns in the Mail on Sunday, please email us at This Is Money.

Cash machines - how much are you paying to access your cash?