FCA to Ensure UK Access to Cash

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 is now law in the UK. The Act requires the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure the maintenance of reasonable provision of cash deposit and withdrawal services for personal and business current accounts held at banks.

The FCA monitors access to cash and as of the end of the second quarter in 2022, 95.1% of people lived within a mile of a free-to-use cash withdrawal point, ie. an ATM, bank or building society branch or a post office. 99.7% of people lived within three miles of a cash access point. Despite this, the FCA is aware that the situation is changing, both in terms of the number of branches and payment behaviour.