Banks will no longer be allowed to shut branches without first ensuring towns have enough access to cash services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it was tightening requirements for lenders to consider the wider impact of closures on communities.
6,000 branches have been lost in the last decade yet three million people, notably from lower income households, still rely on cash, and £1.6billion is withdrawn every week. There are only 35 permanent Cash Access UK sites.
These are hubs funded by nine banks aimed at providing essential cash and services. The FCA has informed the major high street lenders – from NatWest and Barclays to Santander, HSBC UK, Nationwide, TSB and Lloyds – that they should no longer wait until they are the “last branch in town”.
READ MORE UK tourists in Spain and Portugal warned ‘only plan activities for early morning’
Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA, said yesterday: “Three million people continue to rely on cash, even as digital payments become more popular. And many small businesses still need somewhere to safely deposit their takings each day.”
Adrian Roberts, deputy chief executive of LINK, which connects all UK ATMs, said: “Over the past decade or more, while we have seen more people choose and prefer the convenience of banking and paying for things online.
“Cash remains vital for millions of people, however. It’s critical if other systems go down as we saw with the global technology outage last week.” Banks and building societies have closed 6,055 branches since January 2015, at a rate of around 53 each month. This represents more than 60% the branches that were open at the start of 2015.
Which? found NatWest Group, which comprises NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, has closed 1,368 branches – the most of any banking group. Lloyds Banking Group, made up of Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, has shut down 1,180 sites.
Barclays is the individual bank that has reduced its network the most, with 1,220 branches now closed.
