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Around 16 cash machines a day are being converted from free to charging – with US firms among those coining it in.

Figures show nearly 2,000 fee-charging ATMs appeared in the first four months of this year.

In some areas, more than one in three ATMs charge, while in worst-hit places, it is close to half.

Many are in less well-off areas where people can least afford the fees.

Caroline Abrahams, director of Age UK, said: “ATMs that charge are penalising the poorest pensioners.”

Gareth Shaw, of consumer group Which?, has said it risks harming “the most vulnerable the hardest”, adding: “A regulator is desperately needed.”

(Image: Getty)

The situation has been worsened by bank and building society branches closing. Which? said in April that 1,080 had shut last year or were due to this year. Figures from Link, which connects most cash machines, show there were more than 63,100 ATMs in December, of which 11,120 charged. By April, the number was 13,100.

Operators blame the rise on a cut by Link to the interchange fee paid by banks for running free-to-use ATMs.

Most affected ATMs are run by Texas-based Cardtronics, which has said it is likely to convert 1,000 more machines in the coming months.

NoteMachine, bought in 2012 by a US firm, is considering converting up to 4,000. John Howells, head of Link, which has an app that locates free machines, acknowledged ATM firms “often make more money from pay ATMs than free”.

Cardtronics said: “The fees directly reflect the sustainable viability of each machine, including servicing it.”

NoteMachine did not respond.