Anger over GBP1.25 fee to get cash at Post Offices

CASH machines are to be installed in rural post offices in an attempt to revive their fortunes. A fee of pounds 1.25 will be charged for every withdrawal, a measure that immediately drew criticism from countryside pressure groups. Some sub postmasters and postmistresses said the free-standing machines posed too much of a security risk and they would be rejecting them. The American-owned firm Hanco ATM Systems has signed a deal with Consignia, the Post Office holding company, to install an initial 3,000 machines. The Post Office hopes to benefit from the machines attracting more customers and Hanco will keep the biggest share of the “convenience fee”. A small share will go to Consignia and a larger amount to the sub postmaster or postmistress. Both companies say a fee has to be charged to cover the cost of providing and servicing the machines and argue that they will be a boon in areas where people have to drive several miles to find their nearest cash machine. The machines will be connected to high street banks through the Link system, enabling customers to withdraw cash and make balance inquiries. A Consignia spokesman said: “We already have cash machines in some post offices and this is a provision we want to expand to our rural branches. The more services we can provide the better their chance of survival.” She said more than half of the remaining 17,500 post offices were in rural locations. Five hundred were forced to close last year. The spokesman said most country post offices were also general stores. “People already accept they have to pay a little more for their provisions and we are sure they will accept the necessity of the pounds 1.25 fee.” Tom Hannon, of Hanco ATM Systems UK, said the customer was advised at the outset of the fee so they could halt the transaction if they wished. There was no fee for balance inquiries, he said. He added: “We estimate that we need to achieve a countrywide average of 200 transactions a month to make the service pay.” The machines will be bolted to the floor and be re-filled by Consignia staff. Geoff O’Connell, who led a campaign against the closure of his bank in Belford, Northumberland, described the scheme as “usury” and said farming communities on agricultural wages and still recovering from the damage caused by foot and mouth would not be able to afford pounds 1.25. He said that when his local Barclays closed, the bank was persuaded to provide a cash machine that made no transaction charge. The sub post office in the village of Hambledon, Surrey, closed 10 years ago but has been reopened by a co-operative of local people. Jane Woolley, a committee member, said: “We have looked into this proposal and decided against it. We already offer a limited banking service over the counter and cash-back at the till. “A shop in a neighbouring village was ram raided when it installed a machine. We are staffed by volunteers who are mainly ladies of a certain age and we feel the risk is too great.” But at Oakington post office and stores in Cambridgeshire, the first to receive a cash machine, Raj Sanghera, the postmistress, said she was delighted with its success. “A few customers have complained about the transaction fee but overall people accept that there has to be a charge. I estimate it is used up to 25 times a day and it is bringing new business to my shop.”