ATMs

Why are we charged for using some cash machines?

It will depend on the cash machine provider. We have a kind of a unique situation in the UK, in that not only can you expect to use your own bank cash machine for free, but you can use any other bank or building society, by and large for free as well. However, there are a number of independent cash machine providers out there in the market place, and they're usually the ones which are in convenience locations like pubs, night clubs or corner shops. For those, you're more than likely to be charged a fee. However, you will be told when there is a fee before you process the transaction. So, you can decide whether you are prepared to pay for the convenience.

How many cash machines charge?

There are about 55 thousand cash machines in the UK, and over half of them are these independent cash machines that will charge, but we are still talking about a huge number of cash machines out on every high-street and on every shop-corner, that are free machines for us to use.

What warnings are consumers given that they are going to be charged?

If a machine is going to charge you, if you're going to be charged by the provider, you have to be told up front. You will be given the option before you actually obtain the cash, to make the decision about whether you're prepared to pay a convenience fee.

What happens when I use my card in another bank's machine?

You can check on Link's website which is www.link.co.uk. They've got a cash machine locator. So you can check to see where your nearest cash machine is.

If I have a problem with a cash machine that isn't operated by my bank, what do I do?

You should always speak to your own bank, whether it's at home or abroad, if you have a problem with a cash machine. Make sure that you have got a note of where the machine is, who the provider is, what time it happened, and also any other detail that you feel it would be useful to provide. With that, you would expect your bank or card company involved to actually help you get the disputed transaction resolved.

If I get money out of a cash machine that isn't owned by my bank, when will these funds be debited from my account?

It will entirely depend on where that cash machine is and what network that cash machine feeds into. You would expect a cash machine withdrawal in the U.K. to go through more quickly but a transaction or withdrawal carried out in far flung part of the planet may take hours or even days to come through. However, it will always come through so you shouldn't assume that if it doesn't appear on your account details straight away that it has been over looked.