PayPoint has announced the national roll-out of its Counter Cash service, which enables anyone to withdraw specific denominations of cash from £0.01 to £50, from participating PayPoint retailers.
The service will initially be targeting specific areas of the UK with little to no cash access.
This follows PayPoint research into the most cash reliant areas of the UK. It found that of the 48 UK counties included in the study, 43 had an overall cash reliance score greater than 50%, indicating the need for cash by millions of people to support day-to-day expenditure. The study also revealed that one in five (21%) people across the UK use an ATM two to three times a week.
More than two thirds (67%) of all purchases in PayPoint’s network were made in cash over 2020/21 financial year.
PayPoint says retailers participating in the Counter Cash scheme will:
- earn commission on every transaction they process – including withdrawals and balance enquiries;
- save on banking charges by recycling cash they take in for PayPoint services; and
- offering a vital, high-profile service to their local community.
Nick Wiles, chief executive of PayPoint, said: “Bank branches and ATMs have been disappearing at an alarming rate over the last few years and the UK’s rapid growth in digital payments, across every corner of the economy, has left millions of people who use cash every day at risk of being left behind.
“Today PayPoint is laying out its long-term commitment to do everything it can to ensure easy, free cash access, working with partners across industry and government, ahead of the official launch of PayPoint Counter Cash on November 1st. The service will not only enable people to make exact withdrawals, down to a single penny, unlike an ATM, but will also be completely free to customers and profitable to the retailers that offer it.
“I’m incredibly proud of the support that PayPoint’s network offers local communities across the UK and I would like to congratulate our participating Counter Cash retailer partners for providing yet another vital community service.”
PayPoint Counter Cash trial participant Imran Hamid, Local Shop owner, Dennyloanhead, Scotland said: “Denny is a town where we used to have TSB, a Royal Bank of Scotland, a Bank of Scotland, a Clydesdale Bank and now they’ve all shut. I think it’s just a community thing where we try to help and give back something.
“We’ve also got people who are on benefits here and they want access to their cash. That’s another good thing about this – they can withdraw anything from a penny to £50. If someone on benefits has only got £3.50 left in their bank account and they want that £3.50, I can give it to them and it’s not going to cost them anything.”
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