OPINION
ATMs JOHN LEE, HEAD OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SGF
ACCESS TO CASH UNDER MAJOR THREAT WITH AROUND 5,400 ATMS STILL SHUT BECAUSE OF COVID-19, ACCESS TO CASH IS BECOMING A HUGELY IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR MANY COMMUNITIES, SAYS SGF’S JOHN LEE.
A
ccording to data supplied by The Sunday Times, an astonishing 7,200 cash machines were shut down in April and May alone this year. Of those, some 5,400 are still shut, raising fears that many will never reopen. This has resulted in a severe cash shortage in the UK, as many ATMs ran out of money or were simply switched off. According to The Sunday Times, people in dozens of communities were forced to travel
over three miles to access the nearest functioning cash machine. Some of the ATMs were closed because operators were unable to get access to the safe behind the machines located on the exterior walls of business premises that had been forced to shut. This clearly exacerbated the problem, along with a mass switch to contactless and credit/debit payments. This is a hugely important issue and SGF has been working directly with LINK on this. In its view, access
“Cash withdrawals have fallen by 60% but 23% of people are still using the same or more cash and around £1bn is still being taken out of ATMS each week.” 26 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 15 / WEDNESDAY 29TH JULY 2020
