- New rules protecting cash pass into law with 15 new banking hubs announced
A new wave of banking hubs have been green lit across England, Wales and Scotland, cash point network provider Link has revealed today.
Currently, there are 81 hubs open – and another 15 have been confirmed this morning, from Newquay in Cornwall to Huntly in Aberdeenshire.
Link says they will be up and running within 12 months, once a location is found, planning permission is given and a building is refurbished.
It comes as new Financial Conduct Authority rules protecting access to cash access pass into law today.
Dash for cash: 15 new banking hubs will be rolled out across towns in the UK
The 15 new banking hubs will include locations which previously didn’t qualify.
A further 162 recommendations have been made by Link for towns which should receive a banking hub, filling the void of branches which banks have closed at an extraordinary rate in the past decade.
The towns next to receive banking hubs are:
- Sidcup (London)
- Normanton (West Yorkshire)
- Hailsham (East Sussex)
- Frome (Somerset)
- Sheerness (Kent)
- Whitley Bay (Tyne and Wear)
- Rugeley (Staffordshire)
- Newquay (Cornwall)
- Market Harborough (Leicestershire)
- Thetford (Norfolk)
- Monmouth (Wales)
- Morecambe (Lancashire)
- Harpenden (Hertfordshire)
- Huntly (Scotland)
- Yeadon (West Yorkshire)
A total of one million transactions have been carried out in banking hubs throughout the UK, non-profit company Cash Access UK revealed today.
The FCA cash access rules will ensure that consumers in towns where the last branch in town is due to shut are not left without access to cash.
Under the new rules, banks and building societies must assess whether changes to local services, like closing branches or cash machines, leave local communities lacking ways to take out or pay in cash.
Link will then have 12 weeks to do an assessment of whether there are gaps in the ability for consumers to deposit and withdraw cash.
If there are significant gaps, banks and building societies will need to deliver additional cash services to meet the local areas’ needs.
Where a bank branch is due to shut but is the last bank branch in town, it won’t be able to close its doors until a banking hub is open and up and running.
Nearly two thirds of Britons and over two thirds of local businesses have said that having access to cash is essential, new figures from the Post Office reveal.
Banking hubs have a traditional counter service operated by the Post Office, and community bankers from nine major high street banks operate on a rotating basis to provide support to customers with their banking needs.
Link conducts community assessments in accordance with the new rules following the announcement of the closure of any high street bank, a significant change in the hours or services provided, or when a member of a community requests it.
Link then recommends new banking hubs or deposit services and they are delivered by Cash Access UK, which is owned by the banks.
It can take up to a year to set up a banking hub, with most of this time being taken up by finding a location for a new hub.
Labour has pledged 350 banking hubs by the end of Parliament. Currently, 81 of the hubs have been set up, with 100 expected to be opened by the end of the year according to Cash Access UK.
Adrian Roberts, deputy chief executive of Link, said: ‘Today is an important moment for the millions of people across the country who either rely on or prefer to use cash on a regular basis.
‘The new rules that have come into effect today are great news for consumers and businesses and will ensure that access to cash continues to be available on our high streets for years to come.’
Sheldon Mills, executive director for consumers and competition at the FCA, said: ‘The way we spend money is changing, and far fewer of us use cash day-to-day. We don’t want to stand in the way of change, but we do want to ensure reasonable access for those who continue to rely on cash.’
– Used a banking hub? Let us know your experience: editor@thisismoney.co.uk
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