News

Ireland's director of consumer affairs opposes independent ATM operators

January 2, 2003

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Ireland's Director of Consumer Affairs Carmel Foleysaid that her office has been contacted by up to 10 independent ATM  providers seeking to put ATMs in locations such as pubs, hotels and shopping centers, according to a report in the Irish Examiner.

Foley told the Examiner that banks are allowed to charge a maximum of 22 percent per ATM withdrawal and are regulated by her office. However, independents say that the director has no legal power to control their charges.

"They have been trying to come into Ireland and they would seek to charge in the region of 1.50 to 2 euros (about $1.55 to $2.07 U.S.) per withdrawal," Foley said. "We say they have to be regulated by us and they say they are not financial institutions so we have no power over them. We are currently in a stand-off. For them to come in and say they can just charge what they like is not on."

Foley told the Examiner that one of the companies pushing to enter the market was the British-based Moneybox Corporation, which has about 2,000 ATMs in Britain. The company has also expanded to the Netherlands, and has plans to enter Germany as well.

Foley called on Irish banks to provide more ATMs and said her office was strongly opposed to independent operators. She added that banks stood to receive a share of the profits made by any independent operator because the companies cannot provide ATMs without the cooperation of domestic banks.

"Given that banks are trying to keep customers away from their branches through the use of electronic banking, I would feel the existing banks ought to be putting enough of an ATM and Laser card network in place so customers can make withdrawals at a cheaper rate," she said.

According to the Examiner, Ireland has one of the highest levels of ATM usages and one of the lowest densities of bank branches and ATMs in Europe. In the 1990s, Irish banks have had the highest return on assets of banks in the EU nations. They are nearly three times more profitable than German banks, and 11 times more profitable than French banks, according to the Examiner.