Ordinary people need access to cash and local shops want to be able to accept money. It has been a longstanding campaign of mine to stop the emerging crisis of short-term ‘efficiency’ interfering with the accessibility of cash and in-person banking.
In many areas across the country, including here in Worthing and Arun, cash machines have been disappearing and in-person banking services withdrawn at an alarming rate despite the fact that many constituents and businesses still rely on these vital services.
My team and I have been in close contact with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss how to better protect the provision of cash deposit and withdrawal services across the UK. We were instrumental in gaining support from the Government to provide new powers to the FCA to actively respond to this worsening crisis.
The new framework to protect access to cash set out by the Treasury in August this year enlisted the FCA to explore active ways to protect the provision of in-person services.
As part of this, the FCA have launched a consultation on their proposals of which can be seen here: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/consultation/cp23-29.pdf
I encourage all interested and affected by the slow withdrawal of cash and in-person banking services to respond to the consultation with their views and lived experiences.
The consultation runs until the 8th of February, 2024.
You can respond online, here: https://www.fca.org.uk/cp23-29-response-form
You can also submit view by email to [email protected] and by post to:
Retail Banking, Financial Conduct Authority,
12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN.
For the latest updates to our ongoing campaign, do visit my website: https://www.sirpeterbottomley.com/campaigns/access-cash
