LONDON - Sainsbury's Bank, the banking arm of UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's, plans to add another 235 ATMs to its national network this year, for a total of 700 machines.
Like most UK banks, Sainsbury's does not assess surcharges at its ATMs. The retailer is concerned over the growing number of machines that levy fees, as well as compliance with ATM surcharge guidelines, according to a Finextra News report.
Sainsbury's Bank estimates that 43 million cash withdrawals will be made from ATMs that apply surcharges of between £1.25 (U.S. $2.20) and £1.50 (U.S. $2.65) in 2004, costing the public more than £53.7 million (U.S. $95 million). This is an increase of about 18 percent over 2003. (See related story Brits to pay an estimated $70M in ATM fees in '03)
Since April 1, any surcharging ATM must display a sign that is clearly visible to customers before they insert a card stating that they may have to pay a fee to use the machine. However, Sainsbury's Bank contends that some ATM operators either don't display the signs or post them at knee height making it difficult to see them, according to Finextra News.
(See related stories ATM fees: What do they know and when do they know it? and UK ATM operators to make fee disclosures more prominent)
The supermarket chain is warning of an increase in the number of ATMs that levy charges. In October 2001, there were 2,946; by the end of 2003 this had risen to 12,500, accounting for 27 percent of total ATMs deployed.
There are now some 17,000 surcharging machines and if the trend continues, the retailer said, they could soon account for more than 40 percent of all ATMs in the UK.
