Community scheme aims to tackle cashless areas
COMMUNITIES are being encouraged to take part in a new initiative to help improve access to cash.
The new Community
Access to Cash Pilots, being funded by the financial services industry, will help to work out ways to meet local access to cash needs.
ATM and bank branch closures have fuelled fears that “cash deserts” are being created, particularly in rural and deprived parts of the UK.
Natalie Ceeney, chairwoman of the Community Access to Cash Pilots, is asking for communities to volunteer to take part in the pilots.
Successful applicants, which could be individuals or local organisations, will work with payments experts.
The aim is to create new approaches, which include helping local shops to give cashback, supporting groups to become more comfortable making digital payments or developing solutions to help small businesses continue to bank cash.
The launch of the pilots follows the publication of the 2019 Access to Cash Review, which found 17% of the UK population rely on cash.
The Community Access to Cash Pilots is one of several initiatives being taken in response to the review’s findings.
Ms Ceeney, who also chaired the Access to Cash Review, said: “I am delighted to chair this independent initiative.
“With the UK becoming an increasingly cashless society, we need to make sure that digital payments work for everyone, but we also need to support communities who rely on cash, so that no-one gets left behind.
“We are very keen to hear from local communities and work with them to identify solutions, acting as a testbed for the type of measures that could be extended more widely. This is an important part of the wider work to ensure communities around the UK retain access to cash where it is most needed.”
UK Finance has predicted that within a decade only one in 10 payments will be made in cash as the popularity of digital payments surges.
Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to achieve this and so understanding the needs of local communities is critical.”