ON THIS DAY
1498: Mozambique, on Africa’s south-eastern coast, was discovered by Vasco da Gama.
1711: The first edition of The Spectator was published.
1810: Composer and pianist Frederic Chopin was born near Warsaw, Poland.
1913: The International Lawn Tennis Federation, the world’s governing body for tennis, was founded in Paris with representatives from 13 countries.
1949: Joe Louis, US world heavyweight boxing champion, known as the Brown Bomber, retired, aged 35, after a record 25 successful defences of his title.
1957: Israel bowed to UN and US pressure and agreed to pull out of Gaza and Aqaba.
1966: Chancellor of the Exchequer James Callaghan said Britain would switch to decimal currency from 1971.
Free-to-use cash machines are vanishing at an alarming rate, according to Which?.
The consumer group said its latest analysis suggests there has been a spike in the number of people forced to pay to withdraw their own money from ATMS.
Some of the most deprived areas, where people are more likely to depend on cash, have seen a significant shift from free-to-use dispensers to machines that generally charge up to £2 per withdrawal in recent years, Which? found.
Which? wants to see a “clear blueprint” on the future of cash. The Government has previously pledged to legislate on the issue.
ATMS are the most commonly used means of withdrawing cash, with UK Finance figures showing 91% of cash withdrawals took place through cash machines in 2019.
While there are other options, such as cashback and counter withdrawals that may play a greater role in future, ATMS currently remain an important indicator of access levels.