Following the Access for Cash Review in 2019 and the Community Access to Cash Pilots that ran between 2020 and 2021, a landmark agreement was reached between the UK’s major banks and building societies to provide new shared cash services to ensure continued access to cash in communities across the UK following the closure of bank and building society branches.
As part of this agreement, LINK independently reviews the impact of all changes to banking provision in communities using set criteria to guide us. We will recommend new services such as shared banking hubs, deposit services and ATMs where needed to meet the cash needs of the community as a whole and not just the customers or members of one bank or building society. These new services will be put in place by a new company launched by the major banking providers called Cash Access UK Ltd, or in the case of ATMs by companies that are part of the LINK network.
When do we assess communities?
We assess access to cash in a community when any of the following happens:
How we assess the community’s needs
The first thing we look at is whether there will still be a participating bank or building society branch in that community or not. If there is a branch, we also look at what services it offers, ensuring that businesses and consumers can deposit and withdraw funds there. If there is a branch offering full-service provision, we will consider that to be sufficient and no further action will be taken.
Where this is not the case, we will review the community using a structured approach and set criteria to guide us.
Following this, we may decide that:
Step 1. We assess the size of the community
We assess the size of the community and look at how many people live there and how many shops there are. The bigger the community, the more likely it is to need cash access and deposit services. While every community is different, as a guide it will normally need to have a population of more than 7,000 people and more than 70 retailers within 1km of the centre that accept cash. We use an independent data source to ensure we use the most up-to-date information.
Step 2. We look at the detailed characteristics of the community
We look in detail at the various characteristics of the community to better understand its needs. This includes:
Where this data tells us that new cash services might be needed, we visit the community to undertake a detailed assessment in person.
Step 3. We visit the community
Where there are indications that cash access might need to be improved, one of our team will visit the community on a typical weekday and check that all the assessment information such as public transport timetables are accurate. We will also look to see if there are other relevant physical factors such as steep hills or major roads which make it harder for people to access cash services. Where possible, we will speak with members of the community and local businesses to better understand how cash-dependent a community is and if there are cash-based events such as local markets that take place regularly. We will also look for signs that cash needs might change over time such as large numbers of new houses being built. Finally, we will look at the suitability of the local Post Office (opening times, proximity, and capacity) to understand how able it would be to provide cash access and deposits to people and businesses.
What happens if we recommend a new service?
Once LINK has recommended a new service, and any branch closures have been publicly announced by the banks, we will instruct Cash Access UK Ltd to deliver the new service.
Cash Access UK Ltd is the company responsible for delivering any service that LINK recommends, other than ATMs as these will be provided by companies that are part of the LINK network. Cash Access UK Ltd will work with the local community to find a suitable location and will provide an estimate of how long it will take for the service to be ready to use.
