ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has welcomed calls from Which? to ensure that access to cash is preserved in the future.
New research published by Which? has found that one in seven people were left unable to use their card due to an outage in the last year, with half (49%) saying they couldn’t pay for goods and services at the point of sale as a result.
According to the research, one in five of those left unable to use their card due to an outage said they now keep more cash with them.
Overall, there were 362 incidents of system failures that led to people either being locked out of their accounts or unable to make a payment reported by UK banks in the 12 months to 31 March this year.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Access to cash is important not just for people and businesses that rely on it as part of their everyday lives, but as an emergency alternative for those who otherwise would use cards or digital payments.
“Cash is still an essential part of the economy, which is why we are extremely concerned about cuts to interchange fees imposed by LINK and widespread bank branch closures that continue to threaten consumers’ ability to access their money. Convenience stores are now often the only place where local people can get access to cash, but increased costs as a result of interchange fee cuts are now also threatening the viability of thousands of ATMs across the UK. The Government and the Payment Systems Regulator must be prepared to intervene to ensure that access to cash is protected.”
ACS has previously warned of irreparable damage being done to the UK’s ATM network as a result of LINK’s cuts to interchange fees. The Payment Systems Regulator is currently considering evidence ahead of the publication of an interim report at the end of 2019. In its annual plan, published in March, the regulator set out a number of priority areas, including ‘monitoring the impact of LINK’s cut to interchange fees on the UK’s network of free to use ATMs’.
ACS is working closely with the regulator to provide information about the provision of ATMs in convenience stores.
A Westminster Hall debate on bank closures and their impact on communities is scheduled for 2:30pm today (12th June). More information about the debate is available here: https://www.douglasross.org.uk/news/ross-secures-debate-westminster-about-bank-closures
