Demand for money from cash machines plunges

THE NUMBER of ATM transactions plunged by 43 per cent during the “coronavirus year”, according to Link, the UK’s main cash machine network.

Link said the sharp drop-off in ATM withdrawals, compared with the previous 12 months, equates to £37bn less in cash sitting in people’s pockets, purses and wallets.

As the anniversary of the first national lockdown approaches on March 23, Link released data showing how the nation’s cash habits underwent a dramatic shift during the coronavirus pandemic.

In early April 2020, as the first lockdown’s restrictions had an impact, ATM withdrawals shrank by as much as 68 per cent. In some parts of the country, ATM use fell by more than 80 per cent, Link said.

Link’s director of strategy Graham Mott said: “Broadly speaking, we saw a huge reduction in ATM withdrawals in the first lockdown and even in the summer, when shops and traditional ‘cash heavy’ locations like pubs and restaurants reopened, ATM use went up, but never recovered to where it was this time last year.”

At the start of March 2020 there were 45,000 free-to-use and 15,000 charging machines – and a year later there are 41,000 free-to-use machines and just over 12,100 charging ATMs.

Although people have been visiting ATMs less often, when they do go to the “hole in the wall” they have been tending to take more cash out typically.

This explains why withdrawals have fallen more sharply by volume than they have by value in total.

The total value of cash withdrawn fall by 36 per cent, which is lower than the 43 per cent fall in the volume of withdrawals.