Bristol councillor vows to help community group fight unfair bank charges
Against the loud revving on the street and jangly beats of a dance class in Easton Community Centre, a new campaign was born tonight and looks poised and ready to tackle injustice on the streets.
The issue is the rapid increase of cash machines charging people to withdraw money in BS5, a concern that is mirrored in other Bristol communities and beyond. Easton has seen a dramatic increase of charging machines in recent months and there are now no free machines on St Marks Road or High Road, with charges ranging from 95p to £1.95, and reports from Church Road indicate the same trend.
Following recent complaints on Facebook group Not Booty but BS5, from those unpleasantly surprised by new charges, community member Debra Newick of Bristol Women’s Voice decided to take action, and started a group called BS5 Against Cash Machine Charges. “I started the group as I went to take money out of St Marks Rd’s last no-fee cash machine and pow! It charges! There was a conversation I joined later that day…and there were some really annoyed locals like me.” The group now has 77 members and is growing.
Bank charges disproportionately affect elderly and less able-bodied people who might not have the option of walking to the nearest free machine.
Researchers at Bristol Uni have also found that there are issues of inequality around the charges, with those in poorer areas having less access to free cash and banks, while in wealthier areas like Clifton access to cash is less problematic.
Eight people attended the meeting, including Jamie Evans, one of the Bristol Uni researchers who mapped Bristol’s access to cash. He explained that although Link are responsible for the operating systems behind cash machines, there are private third party companies who provide and manage them. We soon established that a main concern for the campaign is the murkiness of the charges – although work has been done on this, it is still hard to pinpoint who is responsible for the rapid increase in paying machines – banks themselves, Link or third-party providers – and who, if anyone, benefits from the charges. For example, what explains the variation in fees from one cash machine to the next?
Other issues that were raised include the discriminatory effect of the charges on Bristol’s poor: what happens if someone only has ten pounds in their account – they can’t access it and that could mean no food, or no trip out for the kids that day. It was suggested that high street shopkeepers could be approached as allies to the campaign, as they could be negatively impacted by less cash flowing.
And although the issue is by no means confined to one place, we decided to fight for our area, and hopefully be effective enough to inspire other communities to do the same.
Then the meeting got a huge boost when we were joined by councillor Afzal Shah, who expressed his shared concern about the charges; he got stuck in, discussing the future direction of the campaign and how he can help the fightback against the fees. He mentioned that there are ZERO banks remaining in the BS5 area, which may be connected to the increasing numbers of paid machines. This is backed up by the research.
Cllr. Shah agreed our first step should be to establish more clarity about Bristol’s cash machine system. In order to do so, he proposed another meeting, to which he will invite Metro Mayor Tim Bowles, a member of the office of Bristol West MP Thangham Debonnaire (who, he explained, is very busy “dealing with Brexit”), and representatives of several high street banks and the credit union, to a meeting at City Hall (or even hosted by the metro mayor), to establish the facts behind the increasing charges, and provide a forum for members of the group to express our concerns and ask questions.
Following on from that meeting, expect a growing campaign putting pressure on those responsible for rip-off charges that target vulnerable people in poorer communities, and supporting alternative ways to get our hands on our own cash. From BS5 to beyond!
Date and location of next meeting to be confirmed
Atm location map – search your postcode on here. Purple ones charge, green ones are free
Which campaign about free access to cash
Fledgling community bank Avon Mutual
