Ron Delnevo, Bank Machine Managing Director, today heaped derision on Maestro's "Cash is Dead" Advertising Campaign.

"Maestro is spending millions of pounds of their CASH trying to convince the public not to use cash! Not surprising I suppose, considering Maestro is a Card Scheme that depends on people falling in love with bits of cheap plastic, but there seems to be no room for reality in such a fanciful campaign."

Ron Delnevo continues "in 2005 in the UK 79 per cent of all purchases were made using cash - YES, 79 PER CENT!. The truth is that the plastic society advocates such as Maestro are growing desperate. They have been trying for years to push consumers away from cash and we, the Great British Public, have refused to budge. That's because we all know that cash is solid and reliable, and plastic.......well, it is just a poor second best!".