The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Scheme aims to improve access to cash
Communities are being encouraged to take part in a new scheme to help improve access to cash.
It is hoped the Community Access to Cash Pilots (CACP) initiative, funded by the financial services industry, will be a catalyst for helping to meet local access to cash needs.
ATM and bank branch closures have fuelled fears that “cash deserts” are being created, particularly in rural and deprived parts of the UK.
CACP chairwoman Natalie Ceeney has urged communities to volunteer to take part in the pilots. Successful applicants, which could be individuals or local organisations, will work with payments experts.
The aim is to create new approaches which include helping local shops to give cashback, supporting groups to become more comfortable making digital payments, and developing solutions to help small businesses continue to bank cash.
The scheme’s launch follows the publication of the 2019 Access to Cash Review, which found 17% of the UK population rely on cash.
Ms Ceeney, who also chaired the Access to Cash Review, said: “With the UK becoming an increasingly cashless society, we need to make sure that digital payments work for everyone, but we also need to support communities who rely on cash, so that no one gets left behind.”