STRATEGIC PARTNERS
June 22, 2000
LONDON -- Abbey National became the latest British bank to announce that it will scrap all ATM charges from January 2001, according to the Times of London. The bank's decision leaves Barclays and Lloyds TSB as the only two financial institutions which still plan to levy surcharges on non-customers who use their ATMs. The move puts further pressure on HSBC and Woolwich -- which have yet to state their position on convenience fees -- to abolish the charges. Abbey admitted that its announcement, which followed a similar statement by Halifax earlier this year, was a reaction to opposition by the government and consumer groups to plans by many of the British banks to surcharge non-customers using their machines. The banks' intention to introduce surcharges on top of existing disloyalty fees imposed on customers by their own banks resulted in a firestorm of negative publicity. Abbey National currently charges its own customers £1.50 for using most of its competitors' ATMs. However, the bank has promised to eliminate the disloyalty fee next year without replacing it with surcharges on other banks' customers using one of its 3,000 machines.
