Banks to face fines if ATM numbers start to dwindle

BANKS will be subject to fines if they do not comply with a Central Bank direction to ensure that there is an appropriate amount of ATMs in a given area, under new rules published yesterday.

The Cabinet has approved the general scheme of the Access to Cash Bill, which is designed to ensure continued availability of cash and ATMs in the country.

Finance Minister Michael McGrath said the Central Bank would have the same powers it had as when it fined banks over the tracker mortgage scandal. ‘So it’s a pretty big stick,’ the Fianna Fáil TD said.

The measures are designed to ‘anchor’ access to ATMs at December 2022 levels, and ensure that people do not experience financial exclusion. The Department of Finance also said that access to cash provides a safety net in the event of electronic banking or payments infrastructure being affected by outages or cyber attacks.

Mr McGrath said the Bill originates from the retail banking review completed in 2022. It requires compliance with regional criteria that set the minimum numbers of ATMs per 100,000 people, and the proportion of people living within 10km of an ATM.

The minister said: ‘It is evident that were we to do nothing, access to cash would become more and more limited, and that is not acceptable because many people do rely on it. The use it for their own budgeting, they use it for the purchase of essential goods and services.’ Mr McGrath added that ‘cash is here to stay’.

He also said he accepted that there were costs for banks, but added: ‘Access to cash... is important and we need the banks to play a role in vindicating those rights.’