Mr. John Palmer:

As for withdrawal of cash from ATMs, under the existing Visa and MasterCard rules, domestic access charges cannot be charged. This is a fee a person may see when he or she is abroad. It is normally a flat-rate fee and it is a fee to actually just use the machine. There are then normal bank charges and fees. They are a separate matter and it is the same in the UK. In this case, we worried about a fee or charge to use the ATMs. This refers to free-to-use ATMs in the UK or in the North as well. That is actually one of the provisions of the Bill; should Visa and MasterCard rules change and ATM operators decide to introduce fees, it gives the Minister the power to prohibit or cap them in the future. The status quo, however, is that ATMs are free to use for domestic cards.