The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

City regulator will be handed new powers to help protect cash access

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The City regulator will be given new powers over the UK’s biggest banks and building societies to help protect the future of cash.

Banks will be subject to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) powers to ensure communitie­s have cash withdrawal and deposit facilities.

Measures will be legislated for in the Financial Services and Markets Bill, helping to ensure financial inclusion, the UK Government said.

The FCA’s new powers will allow it to address cash access issues at both a national and local level.

To support the FCA, the government said it will in due course set out its expectatio­ns for a reasonable distance for people to travel when depositing and withdrawin­g cash.

This will reflect the existing spread of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities in the UK, it added.

Around 5.4 million adults rely on cash to a very great or great extent in their daily lives.

But fears over “cash deserts” potentiall­y being created have grown in recent years, particular­ly in deprived and rural areas, as bank branches shut or reduce their opening hours.

Physical money can often help people with budgeting.

As people try to manage on tighter budgets amid surging living costs, communitie­s are seeing their access to cash dwindle, Which? recently said, with more than 4,000 bank branches closing since 2015 and more than 12,000 free-touse ATMs vanishing since 2018.

Economic Secretary John Glen said: “Millions of people across the UK still rely on cash, particular­ly those in vulnerable groups, and today we are delivering on our promise to ensure that access to cash is protected in communitie­s across the country.

“I want to make sure that people are still able to use cash as part of their daily lives, and it’s crucial to ensure that no person nor community across the UK is left behind as we embrace a more digital world.”

Legislatio­n was previously passed to enable the widespread adoption of cashback without a purchase as part of the Financial Services Act 2021.

The government also recently announced its intention to legislate to provide the Bank of England with the powers necessary to ensure the UK’s wholesale cash infrastruc­ture, including the network of cash centres, remains effective, resilient and sustainabl­e.

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