NORTH YORKSHIRE, England - After months of debate about the fee-charging ATMs in the United Kingdom, Link Interchange Network Ltd. Dec. 13 published results from a survey it commissioned about the transparency of ATM surcharges.

According to the survey's findings, 98.4 percent of surcharging ATMs have on-screen warnings that alert consumers before they insert their cards and 100 percent of ATMs on the Link network meet the requirement of asking customers to accept charges before transactions are continued.

ATMs that have not posted signs and/or initiated on-screen alerts about ATM charges have been fined and are in the process of bringing their machines in to compliance, according to a Link news release.

"Link is committed to full transparency of any charges made for cash withdrawals at ATMs," said Edwin Latter, Link's card scheme director said. "To enhance transparency, Link introduced new rules on July 1 that include requirements for standard-wording signs on the outside of surcharging machines, as well as standard wording on the screen informing the customer of the exact charge applied."

"Link will revisit all non-compliant machines early in the new year," he added, "and further sanctions will be applied for machines that remain non-compliant."

In October and November, Link commissioned a wide-ranging independent survey that included the evaluation of approximately 2,000 machines.

Improvements since the beginning of the year

A trial survey in May showed that 36 percent of fee-charging ATMs had no screen messages or signs; in October and November, the percentage of non-compliant machines had dropped to 1 percent.

Through the survey, 13.2 percent of fee-charging machines were confirmed not to comply with one or more Link transparency rule.

Full results

• 1.6 percent of charging ATMs were confirmed not to state the amount of the charge on the ATM screen before the card was inserted. In each identified case, the machine was made compliant within 24 hours of the member being notified.
• 100 percent of charging ATMs asked the customer to confirm acceptance of the specific charge or cancel the transaction.
• 8.8 percent of charging ATMs were confirmed to give no indication on the body or casing of the machine that there would be a charge for making cash withdrawals.
• 0.8 percent of warning notices on the body or casing of the machine were not considered to be within the normal view or eye-line of someone using the ATM.
• 0.1percent of warning notices on the body or casing of the machine were not considered to be of sufficiently contrasting color to the background.
• 0.3 percent to be in writing consistent with the size of other notices and signs on the body or casing of the machine.
• 7.0 percent of signs directing cardholders towards a charging ATM were confirmed not to indicate that there would be a charge.
• 1.3 percent of warnings on signs directing cardholders towards a charging ATM were not considered to be sufficiently visible.

* Final figures may be slightly lower

The number of charging ATMs in the U.K. continues to rise, with the vast majority in locations that previously did not have an ATM. The proportion of transactions that are surcharged, however, has remained small, according to Link. Through September 2005, 96 percent of cash withdrawals in the U.K. were free.

LINK publishes information about the number of free and charging ATMs and data about trends in the number of charged transactions on its Web site.

Link is expected to commission new and independent research into consumers' ability to distinguish charging and non-charging ATMs.

Most of Link's members did not consider the use of red and green signs a suitable solution for every location. Link is expected to investigate the scope for further standardization to ensure that signs are visible.