Inventor of the cash machine and pin code backs Scottish MP’s bill to ban ATM charges

Dr James Goodfellow CBE, the Scots inventor of the ATM and the PIN code has endorsed a bill by Labour MP Ged Killen which seeks to ban ATM charges and prevent financial exclusion.

The Banking (Cash Machine Charges and Financial Inclusion) Bill 2017-19, due to have its Second Reading in the House of Commons today (Friday 23 November) has won the backing of Dr James Goodfellow.

The 81-year-old Scottish inventor said that he believed that banks had “a moral obligation to protect free-to-use ATMs”.

Mr Goodfellow further said that he thought “the banks have done rather well out of the cash machine” and that he thought Mr Killen’s bill was “important”. “I certainly support Mr Killen’s efforts,” he added.

Following a cut in free-to-use ATM funding by the industry body LINK over 1500 free to use ATMs closed between November 2017 and April 2018. Closure rates have been disproportionately high in Scotland, with rural Scotland the worst affected.

In Scotland 221 free cash machines closed between January and July 2018, around one per day. This leaves less than 6000 free-to-use ATMs left in all of Scotland.

Ged Killen, MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said: “I am very pleased to have the support of the respected Scottish inventor Dr James Goodfellow, his support has added to the growing number of voices calling for a sensible approach to how we manage the transition to a cashless society”.

“While we may be moving towards situation where a large majority of payments are being made by cashless systems, such as contactless cards, we are not there yet, with cash remaining an important means of transaction”

“Proposals by LINK, the membership body which sets the funding for free to use ATMs, risks the mass closure of free-to-use ATMs, with the initial stages of these cuts having already badly effected rural and deprived communities”.

“That is why I have brought forward my bill to ban ATM charges to prevent communities from being cut off from the financial services they need.”