The boss of Link, which manages the UK’s network of cash machines, has warned that there is a “problem building” in the system.
Banks pay cash machine operators a fixed fee each time one of their customers makes a withdrawal. But with fewer people now using cash, more and more ATMs are being removed.
“We will need help from the government to make sure we maintain free access to cash for years to come because consumers are using cash less – but as consumers we’re going to need cash for decades in the future,” said John Howells.
Link has launched a scheme that will fund up to 50 new cash machines in communities that ask for them.
But Ron Delnevo from the ATM Industry Association says it’s not enough.
“It’s a nice little initiative – and I applaud it – but it’s not going to solve the problem,” he told Today.
“We’ve lost 7,000 or 8,000 free ATMs in the last two years and we’re going to lose another 2,000 or 3,000 in the next few months.”
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