Thurso urges banks to reconsider cash machine restrictions
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP John Thurso has today repeated his call for RBS and Lloyds to re-think their decision to prevent their basic account customers from using cash machines run by other banks.
The local MP re-iterated his call for a re-think after the influential Treasury Select Committee, of which he is a member, wrote to the two banks voicing their concern and asking them to justify the decision.
John Thurso said: "As I said when this decision was first announced, the far north of Scotland has a long tradition of banking with RBS in particular and they need to understand that with public money comes public obligation.
"The Treasury Committee has pushed hard over a number of years now to encourage greater access to banking services for the many vulnerable people on low incomes who might otherwise be excluded. Now "Which?" have estimated that those customers affected could lose access to around 80 per cent of the free cash machines in the UK. This is a step in the wrong direction and even worse it is coming from two banks bailed out by the taxpayer.
"The far north has a higher than average proportion of people in part-time work and on low and fixed incomes. In a generally remote and rural area like ours these are the people who will be hit the hardest. I would urge both banks to re-think their decision and welcome the Treasury Committee’s call for the banks to justify their decision."
