Closing a branch or removing a cash machine no longer ends the matter for the banks involved. Under rules overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), local cash access must be reviewed, and where gaps are found, new services such as banking hubs can follow.
Why cash access became a regulatory issue
Most day-to-day money movement is now digital, as covered in how digital banking changes customer behaviour. Yet a minority of households and small businesses still depend on notes and coins, and they rely on being able to withdraw and deposit them locally. The FCA’s 2022 Financial Lives Survey found that 3.1 million adults still use cash for everyday payments, according to the regulator.
As branches and cash machines closed, Parliament gave the FCA specific powers through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. The FCA has described these as powers to protect access to cash, and they cover cash only, not banking more broadly.
Which firms are covered?
The government designated 14 banks and building societies, plus one coordination body, as being subject to the regime, according to the FCA’s consumer page on access to cash. The coordination body is Link Scheme Limited and Link Scheme Holdings, which carries out reviews on the industry’s behalf. The FCA page lists each designated firm and whether it is covered UK-wide, in Great Britain only or in Northern Ireland only.
That scope matters. A closure by a firm outside the designated group does not trigger the same duty, although the resulting gap can still be raised by residents through the request route described below.
What triggers a local review?
According to the FCA, a review is required when local services change. Examples include a branch, cash machine or Post Office closing or reducing its hours. A review can also be started by a “cash access request” from local residents, businesses or their representatives, including charities and community groups that want to submit a collective view.
Firms planning closures that would affect the ability to pay in or take out cash must, the FCA says, keep those facilities open until replacement services are available. The FCA’s September 2024 announcement put it plainly: existing services will not be removed before the replacement services are in place.
How does the review process work, and how long does it take?
The timelines are fixed in the rules and set out on the FCA’s page:
| Stage | Time limit |
|---|---|
| Carry out the review and publish the outcome | 12 weeks |
| Deliver any additional services found to be needed | Within 3 months of the review, unless exceptional circumstances apply |
| Community challenge to a review outcome | 28 days to challenge |
| Firm completes a challenge | 12 weeks |
Reviews look at how long it takes, and how much it costs, for people to travel to get cash, among other factors. They do not assess whether local shops accept cash, and they do not cover wider banking services such as account opening or mortgage advice.
A resident who thinks there is a gap can first check what exists locally with LINK’s Cash Locator, then submit a request through LINK’s website or directly to one of the 14 firms.
What is a banking hub?
A banking hub is a shared facility, usually in a high street unit or an adapted Post Office, where customers of several banks can withdraw and deposit cash and, in many cases, speak to a representative of their own bank on set days. The FCA lists hubs as one possible outcome of a review, alongside new or relocated cash machines, deposit services and enhanced Post Office arrangements. Recommended services need only provide access to cash, not wider banking.
The FCA’s September 2024 release said that LINK had reassessed local areas under the new rules. As a result 15 communities not previously assessed as needing a banking hub were to get one, 6 communities would have an ATM at their hub, and 6 areas would receive an automated deposit service or an enhanced Post Office.
How many hubs are there?
A government announcement of 14 May 2026 said there were “more than 230 already open”, with over 275 announced, against a manifesto commitment to deliver 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. The same page quoted the chief executive of Cash Access UK as saying the company had opened 237. Counts differ slightly by source and date, and the total keeps rising, so the latest figure is best taken from the operator.
What does the latest coverage data show?
The FCA published its coverage estimates for the second half of 2025 on 23 July 2026. They are based on distance to the nearest facility.
| Measure | Urban, within 1 mile | Rural, within 3 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Cash deposits | 97.2% | 97.3% |
| Cash withdrawals | 99.6% | 98.1% |
Rural areas look weaker on a stricter test. The same publication shows that only 73.4% of the rural population was within one mile of a withdrawal point and 67.1% within one mile of a deposit point, rising to 98.1% and 97.3% at three miles.
A worked example of what the percentages mean
The FCA puts the UK rural population at about 12,742,200 people. If 73.4% are within a mile of somewhere to withdraw cash, then 26.6% are not. Illustrative arithmetic: 12,742,200 × 0.266 is roughly 3.39 million rural residents who live more than a mile from a withdrawal point, though nearly all of them are within three miles. Whether three miles is a short or a hard journey depends on transport, age and health, which is why the review process considers travel time and cost rather than a single distance.
The publication also counts 9,347 Post Office branches, which include banking hubs, plus 1,514 mobile or outreach branches, 34,002 free-to-use ATMs and 9,126 pay-to-use ATMs. Banking hubs are folded into the Post Office count and are not separately reported there.
Does the government’s wider review change anything?
The same May 2026 announcement launched an Access to Banking Review chaired by Richard Lloyd OBE, a former Which? director and former FCA non-executive director. It is gathering evidence on the real-world impact of branch closures, who is most affected and where further action might be needed. Its report and recommendations were due to government by October 2026. The government’s page noted there are no equivalent protections for wider in-person banking, so the review addresses a gap that the cash rules do not.
What this means for households and small firms
For individuals, the rules offer a defined route: check local provision, make a request, and expect a published outcome in 12 weeks. For small businesses that bank takings in cash, the deposit figures matter as much as withdrawals, and deposit coverage is slightly lower than withdrawal coverage in the FCA data.
The framework does not guarantee a branch. It guarantees a review of cash access, and the remedy may be a hub, a machine or a Post Office service. Customers who want to move to a provider with better local arrangements can read how bank account switching works, and households that still budget in cash may find how households manage cash useful.
Cash access in summary
The regime is deliberately narrow. It starts from a local change, such as a closing branch or a cash machine removed, and asks one question: can people in that area still withdraw and pay in cash at a reasonable cost in time and money? It does not guarantee any particular building, and it does not decide how banks structure their wider branch networks. That is why the mix of hubs, machines and Post Office services varies so much from town to town.
The UK now has a rules-based process for responding to lost cash services, a growing network of shared hubs and published coverage data to test progress. Urban coverage is very high, rural coverage is strong at three miles but thinner at one, and the open question of in-person banking beyond cash is with the government’s review.
This article is general information, not personalised financial advice. Rules, coverage figures and timelines change, so check current details with the regulator.
Sources: Financial Conduct Authority; GOV.UK
