Falklands to go cashless as sole ATM is marked for closure

FALKLAND Islanders face losing access to cash after it was announced that its only ATM is to be disconnected.

The free cash machine was installed in the capital Stanley last year to serve the community and tourists.

Its disconnection would leave the Falklands with just one bank branch to serve its 3,400 inhabitants.

Businesses there traditionally rely on cash. Banking regulations have made it hard for small firms to accept cards, says Mastercard, which operates in the overseas territory. Credit and debit cards are not widely accepted outside Stanley.

The islands have the Falkland Islands pound, fixed at a rate of one pound Sterling, but UK notes and coins are also accepted. The solitary bank, Standard Chartered, offers a cashback service.

The ATM, which processes around 1,000 transactions a month, half of which come from tourists, was operated by Note Machine.

Link, which connects cash points to banks and building societies, said it was “surprised” that an ATM in the Falklands was connected to its network.

The firm has imposed extra costs on Note Machine, which said it would have to disconnect the machine “in the coming weeks” as a result. These extra fees have made the ATM uneconomical.

Link said: “Link only operates ATMs on the UK mainland and Channel Islands. We were surprised to find that a machine in the Falkland Islands had been connected to Link last year and have asked the operator to move it to one of the international ATM networks that are normally used for such sites.

“We understand that this move is underway and have no plans to disconnect the machine from Link until that’s done.”