The credit unions service company Cuscal has signed AMP Banking to its ATM network ahead of the move to direct charging for ATM transactions in March.Cuscal relaunched its1370-strong network earlier this month, changing the brand from Rediteller to rediATM as part of a move to position it as the most attractive option for retail financial institutions that do not operate their own networks.From March 3 financial institutions will be able to apply direct charges to users of their ATMs.AMP Banking has no ATMs of its own and has had a policy of absorbing interbank charges when its customers use another institution's ATMs.Its move to join the rediATM network will allow it to offer its customers access to an ATM network that will not carry any direct charges.AMP Banking head of strategy, product and marketing, Robert Slocombe, said the Cuscal network appealed because of the large number of devices and their geographic spread. And because rediATM is a multi-deployer network, AMP Banking will be able to add its own ATMs to the network if its wants to put them in strategic locations.AMP Banking has had a relationship with Cuscal since late last year, when it moved from having a number of transaction switching and settlement relationships to having all its switching and settlement handled by Cuscal.Cuscal general manager product and operations, David Heine, said the group was in discussions with a number of other financial services groups and was hoping to connect more groups to the rediATM network. Heine said: "Its appeal is that it is a network without a competing retail banking brand attached to it."Like everyone else in the industry, Cuscal is not saying what its price will be for direct charging. Heine said he did not expect ATM operators to announce their pricing before March 3.