ACCESS TO CASH

That this House expresses concern about the rate at which access to cash is being reduced across the UK, with more than 200 free-to-use cashpoints and 60 bank branches closing per month according to analysis by Which?; recognises that while there has been an increase in digital payments, cash is still expected to be the second most popular payment method in a decade's time; expresses further concern about the 25 million people for whom cash remains a necessity, according to the Access to Cash review, and the 2.2 million people who use cash for all their day-to-day payments, who risk complete financial exclusion as a result of this reduction in access; is alarmed by the number of recent major IT failures at banks, which further highlights the central role for cash as the only non-digital payment method; believes that the rapid reduction in access is not being driven by consumer demand and is not in the consumer interest; and calls on the Government to give a regulator a statutory duty to protect access to cash and a sustainable cash infrastructure for as long as people need it.