The British towns fast becoming free cash machine deserts
Free-to-use cash machines are vanishing at an “alarming” rate with more than 15,000 withdrawn in the past five years in an ongoing funding row, data shows.
Since 2019, more than half have disappeared from Britain’s high streets, raising the threat of communities being stripped of access to cash.
A further 37,000 free ATMs are thought to be at risk of closure or conversion to a pay-to-use model.
Hayes and Harlington, in London, had 189 free cash points in October 2019, but by January this year the number had dropped to just 89, a fall of 53pc.
Cheadle, in Greater Manchester, also saw a 53pc drop in the same timespan from 55 to just 26, whereas north Somerset lost 30 of its 57 free ATMs.
Only nine places increased its number of ATMs in the five-year timespan, including south-east Wolverhampton, West Tyrone, Foyle, Rhondda, and Horsham.
The places with the most ATMs are the City in London and Westminster, which have a combined number of 434.
It comes as the banks continue their spree of closing branches, having shut 5,835 since 2015.
Martin Quinn, of campaign group the Payments Choice Alliance, said: “The banks need to realise that by removing branches from the high street, they are in most cases also removing the last free-to-use ATM.
“We need the banks to play their part in maintaining branch and ATM networks. Their removal, can and does hollow out communities – why should someone have to pay £1.50 to withdraw £10 in cash, as many of the fee-paying ATM providers charge, which is obscene.”
“The loss of ATMs is alarming in many rural communities, with people having to drive miles to withdraw their money.”
Steve Makaritis, chief executive of NoteMachine, the UK’s second largest ATM provider said: “The decline in free-to-use ATMs across the UK threatens access to essential banking services, affecting both urban and rural communities. We must prioritise solutions that ensure equitable access to banking services for all the UK.”
James Lowman, of the Association of Convenience Stores, which represents more than 35,000 shops across the country, said they were having to offer over-the-counter cash services at a loss.
“Convenience stores have strived to provide access to cash for customers where bank branches have closed their doors in huge numbers, but many are operating this service at a loss,” he said.
Card machine companies are campaigning for increased funding from the Government for ATMs.
A letter, signed by the Association of Convenience Stores, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the Rural Services Network, Positive Money, the Petrol Retailers Association and NoteMachine, sent to the Chancellor in September called for the establishment of cash as a “payment method of the future”.
It comes as Barclays joins the ranks of banks restricting the amount of cash that a customer can deposit in the course of a year.
From July, an annual limit of £20,000 will apply to the amount of cash that can be paid into Barclays personal accounts, including any associated children’s accounts. The limit will then be reset in January of each following year.
John Howells, chief executive of LINK, said that consumers using less cash was making the network less busy, meaning that there will be further reductions in ATM numbers.
He said: “People are choosing to pay for things digitally rather than with cash. This means our network is less busy, and that we will see continued reductions in the number of machines across the country, especially on busy high streets where there are quite often 10 to 15 machines close by.
“LINK’s job is to make sure free cash access is still convenient. That’s why we fund around 4,000 cash machines in the most remote and deprived areas to make sure that people can still access cash for free. As a result, 99.9pc of UK high streets now have access to cash.”
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