Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the level of ATM interchange fees in the context of trends in the level of the cost of (a) labour and (b) the distribution of non-branch ATMs.

The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.

The government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. The FCA is currently holding a consultation on its proposed regulatory approach: FCA Access to Cash Consultation

Decisions regarding the funding arrangements of an ATM network are taken by the parties involved. LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator.