Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Financial Services and Markets Bill, whether his Department plans to make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of protected free ATMs..

The government recognises that while the transition towards digital payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by many people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.

The government is currently legislating to protect access to cash across the UK as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The Bill establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. As amended, the Bill requires the FCA to seek to ensure that there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities for personal current accounts with relevant providers.

ATMs play an important role in the availability of cash withdrawal facilities. Decisions regarding the operation and funding arrangements of an ATM network are taken by the parties involved. LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has made commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK publishes information on the number of protected ATMs monthly, and ATMs can be suggested for protected status via LINK’s website: https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/suggest-an-atm-for-protected-status/

According to LINK data for March 2023, there were around 39,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK, including 87 free-to-use ATMs in the constituency of Bedford. Further information is available at: https://www.link.co.uk/initiatives/financial-inclusion-monthly-report/