May Day bank holiday ATM record set as £1.7bn withdrawn amid good weather

A record £1.7 billion was withdrawn from cash machines across the May Day bank holiday weekend as people enjoyed some long-overdue good weather, according to national ATM network Link.

The total value of Link cash withdrawals between Friday April 29 and Monday May 2 surged by £113 million, or 7%, from £1.603 billion during the same period a year earlier to £1.716 billion.

It was the busiest ever May Day bank holiday weekend for the UK's 70,270 ATMs, Link said.

Friday April 29 was by far the most popular time for a trip to the cash machine, as people gearing up for their long weekend withdrew £620 million on that day alone - up by £27 million compared with a year earlier.

The Link scheme connects ATMs across the country, helping people to access cash machines throughout the UK. Link cash withdrawals account for around three-quarters of all cash withdrawals, with the remainder made up of withdrawals where cardholders use their own bank or building society's cash machines to access their money.

The sunnier weather in some parts of the country may have helped to encourage people out to cash machines, Link suggested. The total also may have been boosted by Leicester City fans celebrating their side's Premier League success in recent days, following an anxious wait to see who would clinch the title.

John Howells, chief executive of Link, said: "A mixture of some long-overdue good weather, a packed sporting calendar and the extra day off work that many of us enjoy meant that last weekend marked an all-time high in May bank holiday ATM withdrawals.

"Despite the many different ways to pay that we have in this country, this record for ATM withdrawals clearly shows that cash has a bright future in the UK."