"Make no mistake, the proposed reductions in LINK Interchange may well lead to a vast reduction in free access to cash for British citizens and businesses. Any money saved by a tiny number of banks, which some estimates put at tens of millions of pounds each year, will effectively be at the expense of already hard pressed consumers. This when ATM costs in the UK are already amongst the lowest in the world.

An unwarranted shake-up of Link, an ATM network admired around the planet, will hit the most hard-up the heaviest – particularly the millions of people who rely on cash for day-to-day budgeting. At the same time, businesses located in communities without access to cash will lose customers to bigger city centres.

We already have thousands of bank branch deserts in the UK. The proposals for interchange reduction are likely to create ATM deserts, where communities will wither because there is no local convenient access to cash and other financial services.

The regulators and the Government need to step in immediately to stop a potentially catastrophic situation developing.

At the same time, everyone who values their local free access to cash should make their voices heard – through Link's website or by writing to their local MPs."

If you have questions, please contact Ron Delnevo at [email protected].