The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes, MBE, has welcomed the recent promise of action by Government to save Britain’s dwindling network of free cash machines.

Earlier this month, the Consumer Association reported that 3,700 free cash machines have been converted to pay-to-use in the first three months of 2019 and that a further 5,000 had been identified for conversion to pay-to-use over coming months by the two principal operators.  In response the Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced that he would establish a new Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group chaired by the Treasury, which would include representatives from the Payment Systems Regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England, to address the issue.

Commenting Councillor Sykes said:  “My hope is that the new body will ensure that people who need access to cash can still do so without charge and from a machine that is at a location convenient to them.  It is easy to forget when many of us pay by direct or credit debit or online that over two million people still entirely depend on cash to meet life’s essentials and pay household bills.”  

“With bank branches closing at an increasing rate, it is very worrying to see more cash points lost or converted to charge a fee of up to £1.99 to every customer.  In a Borough like Oldham, where many of our residents are struggling financially, sometimes even living hand-to-mouth, many of these transactions will be for only very small amounts.  Being charged £1.99 to withdraw £10 represents a massive rip-off, that’s even assuming you can find a cash machine to make a withdrawal from.”

In October last year, Councillor Sykes wrote to senior officials at LINK, the largest ATM (automated teller machine) network in the UK, outlining his concerns about the closure of banks and cash machines in his local area of Shaw and Crompton.  In January 2019, the Royal Bank of Scotland closed the last bank branch in Shaw and four ATM machines have been lost in the town centre, with another since converted to pay-to-use.

Councillor Sykes added:  “The situation in Shaw and Crompton shows at a local level how things are getting worse for our many residents who rely on cash.  Almost one in four ATMs in Oldham now charge, a higher proportion than in many affluent areas of the UK[*]. 

This especially inconveniences customers who are elderly or disabled without access to personal transport or the internet, who may struggle to reach the next available ATM.  Following the Government’s announcement, I now hope to see the reversal of the decline of Britain’s free-to-use cash machine network”

Notes:

[*] 39 out of 168 in Oldham East and Saddleworth and Oldham West and Royton in February 2019 (Source: LINK)