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Nearly 60,000 people cut off from cash at height of lockdown

Tens of thousands of people have been cut off from cash because of coronavirus - Aaron Chown/PA
Tens of thousands of people have been cut off from cash because of coronavirus - Aaron Chown/PA
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter

Nearly 60,000 people lost access to cash within three miles of their home during the first lockdown, analysis published by the Financial Conduct Authority has found.

A blog on the regulator’s website analysed the impact of temporary closures of mobile bank branches, Post Offices and ATMs located in shopping centres and pubs.

It said that, although the number of people who lost access to cash within three miles of their home remained below 0.1 per cent of the population throughout lockdown, the “absolute numbers were substantial”.

At the peak of closures there were 59,534 people who no longer had a bank or ATM within three miles, although the blog pointed out that the majority of them did have access to a source of cash within five miles.

Caroline Abrahams, of charity Age UK, said ATM and bank branch closures have a significant impact on the elderly.

She said that lockdown has made clear that legislation promised to protect access to cash is “needed more than ever”.

Gareth Shaw, of consumer group Which?, said it was “alarming” that tens of thousands of people were left “high and dry”.

“Rapid action” is needed, he added, to ensure that future lockdowns do not push the network “past the point of return”.

A spokesman for UK Finance, the banking trade body, said banks had offered third-party withdrawal services and, in some cases, organised home delivery of cash for the vulnerable.