The UK's Nationwide Building Society plans to tackle the growing problem of free-to-use cash machine shortages with ATMs built into phone kiosks.
It launched the first highly secure, bullet-proof, cash machines attached to a BT kiosk as part of a pilot project in Northampton, in May. Now the joint venture with BT plans to roll out similar ATMs across the country.
The move comes in a week where HSBC has responded to criticism from consumer groups over a shortage of charge-free cash machines by pledging to spend £50m sterling on new installations.
This is all happening at a time when the number of ATMs that charge for withdrawals, typically £1.50 a transaction, is on the increase.
Nationwide said the initiative with BT underlined the commitment to providing cash machines that did not levy punitive charges on consumers who were simply withdrawing their own funds.
Whilst most UK major cities and towns are generally well serviced by free-of-charge ATM facilities, it is often rural areas and, according to a recent UK Citizen's Advice report, poorer areas that are short of free cash machines.
Chapeltown in Leeds, which was recently classified by the government as one of the poorest areas in the UK, has ten fee-charging ATMs but not a single free machine.
