For some time, the operators of some cash machines have been claiming poverty and that the banks do not pay them enough to run the service, so perhaps it should not be too surprising that one operator, Cash Zone has taken advantage of the closure of Rye's last major bank (if one excludes Nationwide) to slap charges on the cash machines outside Jempson's.
A small, and fairly inconspicuous, notice on a window close to the machines gives warning that if a customer actually wants their own money from their bank, they will have to pay for it to the tune of 95p for each withdrawal.
It also reminds customers that they can withdraw cash from the Post Office counter (potentially extending the already-long queues at some times of the day) or ask for up to £50 cash back from the tills when making a purchase in the shop, with no charge being made in either case.
A notice on the screen of the machine itself, is less ambivalent as the picture at the top shows.
For some time charges have been made at certain cash machine locations such as motorway service stations, where the customer has no option if they need cash and the charges now seen at Jempson's merely represent a creep, that some might regard as opportunistic, of this policy.
All is not lost, however, as there are still machines – in the shop at the Skinners roundabout and at Tilling Green – that will allow access to one's own money without demanding a ransom for the privilege.
