Free-to-use cash machines have been disappearing at a rapid rate across the UK, according to a study by Which?
Nearly 1,700 machines started charging for withdrawals in the first three months of the year, with the majority starting to charge in March, according to the consumer lobby group.
Cardtronics, which runs most of those, and fellow provider NoteMachine are both likely to charge at more machines. That could mean the country losing 13% of its free ATMs in only a few months.
How quickly is cash use falling?
Cash use has been falling dramatically in recent years. In 2017, debit card use – driven by contactless payments – overtook the number of payments made in cash in the UK for the first time.
The report said that the current rate of decline would mean cash use would end in 2026.
However, it concluded that notes and coins would still be used in 15 years’ time, but accounting for between 10% and 15% of transactions.
The demise of cash, if unchecked, would be driven primarily by retailers and other businesses refusing to accept cash owing to the cost of handling it.
An estimated 3.4 million people hardly used cash at all during the year.
The annual report into the way consumers make payments revealed that the UK is a nation of spontaneous spenders. Only 15% of the 38.8 billion payments made in the UK in 2017 were for regular bills and commitments.
These purchases have increasingly been made using contactless technology, when cards are placed on or near a reader without the need to enter a personal four-digit number.
The frequency of contactless payments almost doubled in a year to 5.6 billion payments last year. This was most commonly used in supermarkets, but card suppliers say that public transport and car parking have also become regular spots for the use of contactless cards.
Save your customers from finding cash
With the UK rapidly turning into a cashless society and businesses no longer wanting to accept cash payments, how will your business cope? Get in touch with us for a free quote for your contactless card machine, or look into taking online payments on your website here!
