Edition 22 - The Public Tell YouGov How Much They Love Cash, 24/7 ATMS - And Bank Branches!

A Payment Choice Alliance Newsletter

The Public Tell YouGov How Much They Love Cash, 24/7 ATMs - And Bank Branches!

Unlike the Banks, who simply dictate to their customers, The Payment Choice Alliance genuinely seeks the opinion of the UK public - and makes sure that those views are conveyed to the Government, Regulators and the Media.

In May and June 2026, the Alliance again commissioned YouGov to get the public’s views. Here are the headlines from that research:-

• 72% of the UK public made clear that they support legislation to oblige businesses to accept cash.
• 71% of the UK public revealed they use cash regularly - daily, weekly or monthly.
• Only 10% of the UK public told YouGov that they would support the UK becoming a fully cashless society. In 2023, when we posed the same question, 12% said they wanted this.
• 85% of the UK public oppose the phasing out of 24/7 ATMs - which HM Treasury and the Banks seem to want to do - restricting cash withdrawals to post office counters only,
• 76% of the UK public said it was important to them to have access to a physical bank branch in their local area.
• Only 3% of the UK public believe that all banking should be done online.
• 53% of the UK public believe that it should be possible to use a physical bank branch for ALL bank transactions that can be done online - and a further 36% believe that some online transactions should be capable of also being carried out at a physical bank branch.

The YouGov findings are VERY clear.

The majority of the UK public:-

• Use cash regularly and want it to be available 24/7 via ATMs.
• Support business being obliged to accept cash.
• View it is important to have a physical bank branch in their local area.
• Reject the imposition of cashless on the UK.

The Payment Choice Alliance will be making sure the UK Government and Regulators hear the public’s views - AND act to speedily deliver what the public are asking for!

HM Treasury Announce Review of Access to Banking Services - Horse; Door; Bolted?

Click here to read in full.

The banks clearly knew this Review was coming, which is why they are rushing to make public announcements about maintaining the few branches they still have, though, in some cases, only AFTER completing their 2026 closures.

One bank has even said it may open an unspecified number of new branches.

Their cynicism is BREATHTAKING.

Back in 2019, The Labour Party Manifesto for the December General Election included the potential to stop banks closing branches and the launch of a 3000 branch Post Office Bank, to ensure community financial services were maintained throughout the UK.

The banks had fought hard to stop a Post Office Bank being created under a previous Government led by The Labour Party, between 1997 and 2009. The banks publicly dismissed such a launch as inevitably to be viewed as ‘the poor people’s bank’.

As if those banks care about poor people - all they do is make them poorer!

The Labour Party lost that 2019 General Election, giving the UK banks the opportunity to accelerate their branch closure programmes - thousands of branches, along with their 24/7 ATMs, have been lost since then - and push the ‘Banking Hub’ concept, launched in 2021, as an alternative to the mooted Post Office Bank.

Though instead of the 3000 branch Post Office Bank, the UK public were promised in 2023 that they would get only 350 Banking Hubs by 2029.

In 2023, PCA Chair Ron Delnevo met Tulip Siddiq MP of The Labour Party - by 2024, Economic Secretary to HM Treasury - and told the MP that 350 Banking Hubs was hopelessly inadequate. Ron categorically told Tulip that 1200 Banking Hubs were required. He was assured that more than 350 would ultimately be provided.

The Labour Party Manifesto for the July 2024 General Election made no mention of a Post Office Bank and contained no assurance that more than 350 Banking Hubs would be provided. Now HM Treasury have announced this Access to Banking Services Review, with Chair Richard Lloyd OBE expected to make his recommendations by October 2026.

The PCA is prepared to work closely with Richard Lloyd so he learns the brutal truth about what the banks have done to thousands of communities around the UK - turned them into cash and banking DESERTS!

The PCA will also be advising Richard Lloyd exactly how those ‘DESERTS’ can be revived, including via 24/7 ATMs AND FULL face-to-face banking services at 1200 plus Banking Hubs covering, at a minimum, EVERY community in the UK with 5000 or more residents.

With an intimate knowledge of what has happened in UK banking and cash services in the last 30 years, it is difficult to be optimistic about the outcome of this latest Review. However, if Richard Lloyd listens to the Alliance, the UK can soon be starting on the path towards restoring convenient cash access and full face-to-face banking services for ALL who WANT and NEED them.

Successive UK Governments have appeared to be cowed by the banks, even when having to spend many £Billions of public funds to save them in 2009.

Are those banks not only too big to fail but also too powerful to be required to fund the community financial services the UK public WANT and NEED?

The Payment Choice Alliance accepts NEITHER of those propositions - and we urge ALL of our supporters to contact Richard Lloyd themselves to let him know precisely how they feel about the situation.

YOU have until 20 July 2026 to submit YOUR veiws.

Lloyds Bank Leads The Way in Creating Banking - AND Cash - Deserts Around the UK

‘I’m down to one option’: bank customers left frustrated by latest closures, theguardian.com

An excellent article by Zoe Wood in The Guardian.

As we have highlighted before, Lloyds Bank has been particularly active in destroying genuine face-to-face customer service by closing their branches.

As an example, Surrey outside the M25 has lost at least eleven Lloyds Bank branches in recent years, with only three remaining - and the branch in Camberley has probably only been kept because it also services customers from the immediately neighbouring counties of Berkshire and Hampshire!

As the article notes, Banking Hubs COULD replace lost bank branches - but NOT if there are only going to be 350 of them, the paltry number promised by 2029.

The Payment Choice Alliance has confirmed that there needs to be a minimum of 1200 fully equipped Banking Hubs, open 6 days a week, all with 24/7 cash access via ATMs - and with full face-to-face financial services advice from staff trained in all the matters of concern to the public.

The current ‘one banker a day’ from each major bank is a pretence of providing genuine face-to-face banking.

The Payment Choice Alliance YouGov survey mentioned in the article found that 53% of UK adults want to enjoy the choice of having ALL their banking needs provided for in a local branch - that’s over 30 MILLION PEOPLE - and over 70% want to be able to do at least some of their financial services business in a local branch.

What the UK public WANT and NEED is being ignored by Lloyds and the other so-called High Street Banks - that MUST change, starting NOW, in 2026.

The Banks Have Nowhere Left to Hide…

Cash cut off: Government concern as 75% of Scotland’s banking network is wiped out - heraldscotland.com

The pressure builds on Scotland’s two dismal banks - Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland - and on LINK Scheme Ltd, whose attempts to defend the indefensible are, quite frankly, pathetic.

This is a brilliant in depth report by Martin Williams - Scotland’s Financial/Business journalist of the year - in The Herald Scotland, with invaluable insights from Adam Stachura at Age Scotland.

The Scottish Banks are trying to dodge their responsibilities to the Scottish public - their CUSTOMERS - and leaving it to other organisations such as Post Office Ltd and Mutuals like Nationwide Building Society to save communities around Scotland.

IT IS A DISGRACE.

Some gent from LINK Scheme Ltd has the cheek to say ‘If any community thinks it has a problem, it can contact LINK directly and we can take a closer look.’

Why the hell should the public have to appeal to LINK Scheme Ltd? If LINK Scheme Ltd can’t see the problems throughout Scotland themselves, they are NOT competent to meet the cash needs of the Scottish - OR UK - public.

The Payment Choice Alliance YouGov survey has revealed that the vast majority of UK adults completely reject the idea that Post Office Counters - and, by implication, Banking Hubs without ATMs - can provide them with convenient access to cash in their local communities.

24/7 ATMs are what the public WANT and NEED.

LINK Scheme Ltd has overseen the ripping out of over 40% of the UKs free-to-use 24/7 ATMs - over 20,000 ATMs - in recent years.

That decimation of ATM services and convenient cash access has directly led to a reduction in cash use, which LINK Scheme Ltd would have us believe is a ‘natural phenomenon…’

The Scottish - and UK - public have had enough of the prevarication and procrastination.

The public everywhere WILL retain 24/7 ATM cash access in EVERY community AND they WILL get the minimum of 1200 Banking Hubs - with 24/7 ATMs and full face-to-face banking advice services - required to replace the 7000 plus UK bank branches lost since 2015 alone.

THE PAYMENT CHOICE ALLIANCE STANDS SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER WITH THE PUBLIC.

Please Tell Your Friends About The Payment Choice Alliance

The PCA needs all the active supporters we can get! So please tell your friends about YOUR support for the Payment Choice Alliance - and urge them to visit our website to register THEIR support!

THANK YOU.

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About Us

The Payment Choice Alliance, founded in 2014 and relaunched in 2023, is a campaigning organisation committed to ensuring the right of the British public to use cash is safeguarded by the passing of a Payment Choice Act.

The Act would give everyone in the UK the right to use their cash, when and where they choose.

The Payment Choice Alliance, which is run by committed volunteers, is also focused on ensuring every community in the UK has convenient cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. The provision of such facilities, along with the legal obligation of businesses to accept cash, will ensure cash remains a viable Payment Choice for the British public for as long as they want to use it.