LONDON -- Alliance & Leicester is facing the ire of consumer groups with it plans to introduce surcharges on a number of ATMs which were previously free for all, according to a report in The Guardian.
Alliance and Leicester has already introduced some 800 new machines charging convenience fees, many at gas stations and post office branches in rural areas, and is considering converting a number of its other 2,000 machines.
Alliance and Leicester spokesman Peter Brown said, "We are having to look at some machines to see whether they are still viable on a fee-free basis. We may have to bring in charges. The alternative is that, without a fee, these machines would not be viable and we would have to look at withdrawing them."
He added, "With the convenience-fee machines, we can afford to put machines in places where you would not typically expect to find them."
Abbey National says it won't introduce charges but will eliminate about 100 non-profitable ATMs from its fleet of 3,000 machines, 1,400 of which are at non-branch locations.
Andrew Pople, Abbey National's managing director of retail banking, blamed a reduction in interchange for its decision and claimed that due to its large investment in ATMs, it was effectively subsidizing larger banks.
In the summer of 2000 several British banks proposed introducing a £1 convenience fee at ATMs, provoking widespread public anger and a split within the industry. Several banks, including Barclays, NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Abbey National, already imposed foreign fees when their customers used ATMs owned by other institutions; they proposed replacing those fees with a surcharge.
After months of lobbying by consumer groups, both foreign fees and convenience fees were scrapped in January 2001.
