LB First Column: High Street banks are needed
We recently heard that Lloyds bank will be closing it's branch in the High Street at the end of November along with Halifax at the end of January next year, this following the closures of both the HSBC and Barclays branches last year. And yet the number of people mainly using cash for day-to-day spending hit a 4 year high during the cost of living crisis.
According to research some 1.5 million adults mainly used cash in 2023 marking the first rise since 2019. UK Finance's head of research Adrian Buckle said: "This is likely to be a reflection of the use of cash to manage a limited budget."
Responding to the Financial Conduct Authority's publication of the 'Final rules for its access to cash regime', Martin McTague, National Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses said: "Overall the FCA's new access to cash rules could play an important role in stemming the loss of cash infrastructure in the UK but they are missing half of the picture, namely how to restore access to communities which have lost much or all of their cash points and bank branches. Many bank branches have closed in recent months and years and doubtless more will do so before the rules come into effect in mid-September. The FCA is introducing cash access requests, which will allow anyone to ask for an assessment of cash access levels in their area, but these risk being underutilised by businesses and communities due to a lack of awareness. After a cash request is made, any identified additional services needed must be delivered within 3 months of the assessment or closure, which is good news, as is the rule that branches must stay open while these services are put into place. For many people cash is their main payment method, and in order for them to be able to pay for goods and services, the infrastructure needs to be there to enable small firms to accept cash, if they wish to, small businesses needs must be a priority too!"
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