Access to cash and banking services

Cash payments accounted for just 9% of all payments in 2024.

In 2024, 26% of UK adults with a bank account had used face-to-face banking services in a branch in the previous year. Only 7% had not used online or mobile banking in the last year.

Digital payments and online banking offer a range of advantages, for example speed and convenience.

Partly because of lower usage, the number of bank branches and ATMs has fallen. The reduced availability of these services affects some groups, particularly those who are digitally excluded, more than others.

Who is particularly affected?

Overall, 5% of UK adults were heavy users of cash in 2024, paying for everything, or most things, in cash.

24% of those who were digitally excluded were heavy users of cash. About two thirds of those who were digitally excluded in 2024 did not bank online or use a mobile app in the last year.

Reasons for using cash include convenience, budgeting, trusting cash more, and buying things from vendors that prefer to take cash.

Many businesses rely on cash. On average small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) deposit cash just over twice a month (25 times a year), withdraw cash just over once a month (15 times a year) and get change just over once a month (15 times a year).

The consumer organisation Which? reported in June 2023 that 52% of disabled people surveyed said that branch closures had had a “negative impact” on their access to bank services. Respondents highlighted difficulties with speaking to staff on the phone, using equipment like card readers and remembering passwords.

In rural areas, branches tend to be further away. The loss of branches may result in longer journeys and digital alternatives are more likely to be hampered by poor internet connectivity. In these areas a higher proportion of people bank online or use a mobile app.

What is happening to services?

The number of bank branches has fallen over the last decade. According to data collected by Which? around 6,700 bank and building society branches have closed since January 2015 in the UK. This is equivalent to 68% of branches that were open in January 2015.

The number of ATMs has also fallen, by 40% since 2015.

Personal and business customers of many banks and building societies can withdraw and deposit cash and access some other basic services from standard branches of the Post Office. There were around 11,700 post offices in 2025, more than the number of bank branches, and they are often open for longer hours. The number of post offices has been reasonably stable for the past 15 years.

A banking hub is a site that offers people physical access to banking services from a range of providers. These have a counter service that provides certain banking services and a community banker service, which allows customers of individual banks to meet members of staff of that bank to discuss more complex banking matters. As of March 2026, there were 225 operational banking hubs.

Protecting access to cash and bank branch services

Over the past decade various government and industry initiatives have been put in place to try to maintain access to cash and bank branch services.

Banking services

With respect to banking services, in 2017, the industry agreed an Access to Banking Standard, where banks would proactively inform customers and stakeholders of forthcoming closures and alternative facilities.

The standard has been superseded by guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) setting out expectations for banking providers that intend to close or reduce branches, services or free ATMs.

Banks have an agreement with the Post Office whereby the Post Office provides banking services on their behalf in its branches. The government said that a key objective for the Post Office for “the next 5 to 10 years and beyond” should be to provide critical services – currently including cash and banking, and bill payment.

Banks have also collaborated to launch banking hubs in areas of the country with few or no services. These are staffed by bank employees and so can offer wider support than Post Offices. After the 2024 election, the government said that it was working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK, and that the banking sector had committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this parliament.

Access to cash

With respect to access to cash specifically, LINK, an organisation that connects the ATM network to major banks and building societies, has set a premium fee paid to ATM operators by banks for remote and low-use ATMs, in an effort to protect their viability.

LINK also delivered a voluntary scheme on behalf of banks whereby it conducted cash access assessments (PDF) in response to service closures or community requests. LINK would then have the option of recommending a variety of new services.

In 2023 Parliament passed the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA 2023) which gave the FCA responsibility to maintain cash access. The FCA’s rules, which came into effect in September 2024, say banks must not close services unless they have assessed the area and found that the closure would not impact withdrawal and deposit services.

Assessments are modelled on LINK’s previous scheme, and they are conducted by LINK, but with a wider range of criteria, which should result in more areas having their services protected or new services recommended.

The act also gave the Bank of England powers to oversee and protect the wholesale cash infrastructure.

Outstanding issues

While FSMA 2023 gave the FCA powers to protect cash access, it did not extend to wider banking services. During the passage of the act, Labour tabled new clauses to that effect. The government did not support the clauses, with then Treasury minister Andrew Griffith noting the development of sector-led banking hubs and saying it would not be proportionate to intervene in the market through legislation. Labour withdrew the clauses.

Additionally, the act did not directly address the issue whether businesses accept cash. The 2019 industry-led Access to Cash Review, which has been influential in policymaking since, warned that retailers refusing cash poses a threat to the cash infrastructure. Traders can face significant costs handling cash, including security costs, the cost of travelling to bank branches, and deposit and withdrawal fees charged by banks on businesses.

The review did not recommend requiring retailers to accept cash, but rather to experiment with initiatives to make it cheaper for businesses to handle cash, like deposit-taking ATMs.