While cash payments were already declining year-on-year before the pandemic hit, Covid-19 accelerated the trend, with current usage 35 per cent below pre-Covid levels. One study from Merchant Machine found a 10 per cent decrease in the number of ATMs available to UK cardholders in 2020 alone.
The new deal will see shared banking hubs being rolled out alongside free ATMs, enhanced Post Office services, and access to cashback without purchases.
The collaboration was achieved through the Access to Cash Action Group which has signed up all the major retail banks alongside Age UK, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and others.
With millions of people across the UK still reliant on cash, Chancellor Rishi Sunak was urged last year to protect people’s access to it as it becomes increasingly uneconomical to support those services.
Under the new model, any community that faces the closure of a core cash service, such as a bank branch or ATM, will have its...