COMMENT
CASH is no longer king. That is what some people will have you believe, especially as debit card transactions overtook cash for the first time in 2017.
But even if notes and coins have been dethroned, they continue to play an important role in the lives of millions of UK citizens.
In fact, almost three million people in the UK are reliant entirely on cash transactions, and access to cash is still a necessity for more than
25 million people.
This is exactly why ensuring that people can readily and freely access their cash is so important.
Yet data provided by LINK shows that, following changes to the way the UK’s
ATMs are funded, machines are closing at an alarming rate. And these closures aren’t limited to areas that are already well served by ATMs and bank branches.
We have seen these so-called “protected ATMs” disappear at a rate of one every other day.
These are the ATMs in rural or deprived areas that are often the only feasible means of accessing cash for local residents. Today’s report from Which? reveals similarly alarming figures. In the second half of 2018 roughly 16 ATMs closed a day, and more than 3,300 bank branches have closed since 2015.
These statistics serve only to reinforce the warnings made by the Treasury Committee in recent years – individuals and communities must not be left behind by self-interested banks prioritising cutting costs over serving customers.
Of particular concern is the impact on vulnerable people – those who, due to their personal circumstances, are especially susceptible to detriment, particularly when a firm is not acting with appropriate levels of care.
The Committee launched an inquiry into this very issue last year to scrutinise whether certain groups of consumers are excluded from obtaining a basic level of services from financial services providers.
One proposal from Which? is for the Government to appoint a regulator to protect access to cash.
As the regulator of the UK’s ATM network, the Committee has been closely monitoring the work of the Payment Systems Regulator as concerns surrounding access to cash have continued to mount.
For too long and for too many people, basic financial services have been out of reach.
Ensuring that access to cash does not diminish will be an important test for the Payment Systems Regulators.