LINK is a British
interbank network
An interbank network, also known as an ATM consortium or ATM network, is a computer network
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by Node (networking), network nodes. The computers use common ...
. It is the largest interbank network in
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
Network
The network counts 38 member institutions, of which many are various
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Beca ...
s and
building societies
A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the ...
issuing LINK
cash cards, and the remainder are independent cash machine operators who do not issue cards.
The network connects over 70,000
cash machines
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...
– virtually every cash machine in the United Kingdom.
The LINK scheme is administered by LINK Scheme Ltd., based in Leeds, Yorkshire.
The LINK network infrastructure is operated by
Vocalink, a company formed in 2007 by the merger of LINK Interchange Network Limited and Voca Limited. The LINK cash machine scheme is a separate entity which is run by the scheme members.
In addition to providing the core cash machine transaction switching and settlement service to LINK network members, VocaLink provides outsourced cash machine, card and mobile payment services and provides access to
Post Office counters for basic banking transactions.
UK issued debit cards generally come with a LINK
EMV
EMV is a payment method based on a technical standard for smart payment card
Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner (the cardholder) to access the f ...
application in addition to a point-of-sale EMV application that can be
Visa Debit
Visa Debit is a major brand of debit card
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term ''#Plastic card, plastic card'' includes the above and as an i ...
,
Debit MasterCard
Debit Mastercard is a brand of debit cards provided by Mastercard. They use the same systems as standard Mastercard credit cards but they do not use a line of credit to the customer, instead relying on funds that the customer has in their Transa ...
,
Maestro
Maestro (; from the Italian ''wikt:maestro#Italian, maestro'' , meaning "wikt:master, master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music ...
,
Visa Electron
Visa Electron is a debit card
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term ''#Plastic card, plastic card'' includes the above and as an identity docu ...
or
UnionPay
UnionPay (), also known as China UnionPay () or by its abbreviation, CUP or UPI internationally, is a Chinese state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry
Industry m ...
[ICBC (London) plc]
China UnionPay Debit Card
. Retrieved 11 April 2015 applications.
As of 2016, there were about 54,000 free to use cash machines, of which 23,600 were provided by independent suppliers, and 16,000 cash machines that charge for withdrawals. Throughout 2016 and 2017 discussions were ongoing over a new charging system, as larger LINK members considered the interchange fee too high.
See also
*
ATM usage fees
ATM usage fees are the fees that many banks and interbank networks charge for the use of their automated teller machines (ATMs). In some cases, these fees are assessed solely for non-members of the bank; in other cases, they apply to all users.
...
*
Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes The Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes (EAPS) was an international alliance of Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and tradi ...
References
External links
VocaLink Home pageLINK UK homepage
{{Interbank networks
Interbank networks
Financial services companies of the United Kingdom
1985 establishments in the United Kingdom