The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has written to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Griffith MP calling for action to protect access to cash cross the UK.
In the letter, the ACS highlights the increasing number of convenience retailers being forced to switch from free-to-use ATMs to charged ATMs. It has therefore called on the Government to review the viability of interchange fees to deliver the ATM network as many convenience retailers are being required by ATM operators to move their free-to-use ATMs to pay-to-use ATMs as a result of the rising costs faced by the operators themselves.
Findings from the 2022 Local Shop Report revealed the important role that convenience stores continue to play in promoting financial inclusion in their communities, offering a range of cash and banking services, including free-to-use ATMs (44% of stores), charged ATMs (18%), cashback (69%), bill payment services (76%) and Post Office services (22%).
ACS has launched a new tool which reveals the change in ATM provision in every constituency across the UK. The new ATM Tracker provides information on:
- How the total number of ATMs in each constituency has changed since 2018
- How the split between free to use and charged ATMs has changed since 2018
- How many people there are for every one ATM in each constituency
As part of its campaigning activity on access to cash, ACS has submitted a response to the Payment Systems Regulator review of Specific Direction 12, which seeks to uphold the wide-ranging geographic coverage of the UK’s free-to-use ATM network by introducing mandatory reporting requirements for LINK.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Cash is still an incredibly important payment method for millions of people in the UK and is used by many customers as a way of managing their money. Convenience stores play a vital role in providing customers with access to their cash but this is becoming increasingly unsustainable for local shops and many members have told us that they are being forced to switch from free-to-use to charged ATMs.
“We are encouraging retailers to use our ATM Tracker to highlight the scale of the issue to their local MPs and urge the Government to take action to protect access to cash across the UK.”
The ATM tracker is available here.
