ATM withdrawals across the UK fell on average by 65% in early April and though they have recovered since then, they are still down on average by around 35% on the same time last year.
Across the UK, cash machine withdrawals between April and September fell by 48% compared to the same time last year. In that time period, consumers took out £22bn less than they did in the same period of 2019.But this was not the same for every area of the UK. Comparing the data from September 2019 and September 2020, the biggest and smallest falls were within the following UK Parliamentary constituencies:
|
LARGEST YEAR ON YEAR REDUCTIONS, APR TO SEP 2020 |
|
|
Constituency |
Reduction in Withdrawals |
|
Cities of London and Westminster |
-81% |
|
Saffron Walden* |
-71% |
|
Glasgow Central |
-71% |
|
Holborn and St Pancras |
-70% |
|
Orkney and Shetland |
-70% |
|
Edinburgh East |
-66% |
|
Edinburgh North and Leith |
-66% |
|
Na h-Eileanan an Iar |
-65% |
|
Sheffield Central |
-65% |
|
York Central |
-65% |
|
Bath |
-65% |
|
Bristol West |
-64% |
|
Belfast South |
-64% |
|
Edinburgh West |
-64% |
|
Liverpool, Riverside |
-64% |
|
North Somerset |
-64% |
|
York Outer |
-63% |
|
Westmorland and Lonsdale |
-63% |
|
Cardiff Central |
-63% |
|
Truro and Falmouth |
-63% |
* Saffron Walden constituency includes ATMs located at Stansted Airport.
|
SMALLEST YEAR ON YEAR REDUCTIONS, APR TO SEP 2020 |
|
|
Constituency |
Reduction in Withdrawals |
|
Liverpool, Walton |
-23% |
|
Birmingham, Hodge Hill |
-24% |
|
Bradford South |
-24% |
|
Wolverhampton South East |
-27% |
|
Bradford East |
-27% |
|
Birmingham, Perry Barr |
-28% |
|
Blackley and Broughton |
-29% |
|
Warley |
-29% |
|
Knowsley |
-29% |
|
Cynon Valley |
-30% |
|
Dagenham and Rainham |
-31% |
|
Oldham East and Saddleworth |
-31% |
|
Erith and Thamesmead |
-32% |
|
West Bromwich West |
-32% |
|
Nottingham North |
-32% |
|
Leicester East |
-32% |
|
Hackney North and Stoke Newington |
-32% |
|
Edmonton |
-32% |
|
Rochdale |
-32% |
|
Walsall North |
-32% |
|
YEAR ON YEAR REDUCTIONS, APR TO SEP 2020 UK REGIONS |
Reduction in Withdrawals |
Reduction in £ withdrawn |
|
East Midlands |
-47% |
£1.42bn |
|
East of England |
-49% |
£1.87bn |
|
London |
-47% |
£3.09bn |
|
North East |
-45% |
£885m |
|
North West |
-45% |
£2.41bn |
|
Northern Ireland |
-46% |
£707m |
|
Scotland |
-52% |
£2.47bn |
| South East |
-51% |
£2.7bn |
|
South West |
-54% |
£1.76bn |
|
Wales |
-48% |
£965m |
|
West Midlands |
-44% |
£1.65bn |
|
Yorkshire and the Humber |
-45% |
£1.82bn |
In the early stages of the pandemic, around 7,200 ATMs closed across the UK. Many of these were located in premises that closed due to government restrictions (e.g. shops, airports, garden centres, pubs) or were closed for social distancing purposes e.g. train stations and supermarkets. By the end of September over 50% of these had reopened.
There are currently 42,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK and 13,000 charging ATMs.
Throughout the pandemic, people visited cash machines much less often, but took out more money. The average transaction value increased from £68 in February to as much as £86 in May. In September, consumers were still taking out more, taking out an average of £78.
Last October, LINK launched a community request website allowing communities without a free to use ATM or Post Office the opportunity to request a cash machine. To date, 37 communities now have new free-to-use ATM including recent installations in Burbage (Derbyshire), Hareshehill (Lanarkshire) and Consett (County Durham).
LINK, Head of Financial Inclusion, Nick Quin: “Every city, town and village has a different story. In places like city centres, it’s less busy overall, so there are fewer people using ATMs. In some rural areas, though, there have been fewer tourists or perhaps the local shop, where the ATM is hosted, temporarily closed.
“What’s clear is that there are places around the country, where more people rely on cash. They’re often some of the most deprived places in the country. That's important because while there are more people who prefer to use cards and shop online, there are a lot of people out there where digital payments still don’t work.
“We’re delighted to see that the Government recently launched a consultation to protect access to cash. COVID-19 has changed payment habits, possibly forever, but cash still remains important and it’s vital we protect it.”
Recent research conducted by LINK shows that while 70% of people say they are using less cash because of COVID-19, just over two-thirds (68%) said they have used cash in the past two weeks.
Interestingly, 29% of people said that they have experienced situations (during the crisis) where they would prefer to use cash, but instead used a card because the place they were in discouraged cash payments.
