The Mail on Sunday

New law on access to cash will be victory for MoS

- By Jeff Prestridge jeff.prestridge@mailonsund­ay.co.uk

LEGISLATIO­N aimed at preserving high street access to cash is likely to be confirmed in the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday. The speech outlines the Government’s legislativ­e agenda for the year ahead.

If it is confirmed, it will mark a significan­t victory for The Mail on Sunday. We have campaigned tirelessly in recent years for cash to remain a payment choice on the high street despite the best efforts of the banks and some retailers to push customers towards contactles­s payment. More than two years ago, Chancellor Rishi Sunak promised legislatio­n to protect access to cash – key for many elderly people and those on low incomes who are cash dependent. But lockdown pushed the legislatio­n down a siding.

But a rash of bank branch and cash machine closures has persuaded the Government to put legislatio­n back on the table.

It is believed that the new legislatio­n will empower the Financial Conduct Authority to oversee access to cash. It will have the power to require the big high street banks to install shared ATMs and bank branches in communitie­s stripped of ready access to cash.

Currently, there is a voluntary agreement in place, brokered by cash champion Natalie Ceeney through the Access to Cash Group.

This requires banks to put in place alternativ­e cash facilities if a community loses its last bank and cash machine network operator Link deems remedial action is required.

But legislatio­n would enshrine such requiremen­ts in law, giving the banks no wriggle room and little influence on how the regulator determines which communitie­s need improved access to cash.

On Friday, John Howells, chief executive of Link, said legislatio­n would represent ‘a serious step forward’. He added: ‘We need legislatio­n if we want to preserve access to cash on the high street. The current set-up is untenable.’

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