Finance officials have been urged to maintain in-person banking services as older consumers continue to depend heavily on cash transactions. Despite a decline in cash usage overall, campaigners emphasize that notes and coins remain a crucial payment method for many, particularly among older generations.

Last year, cash was used for approximately 3.9 billion transactions, but access to cash is becoming more limited. The number of cash machines nationwide has decreased by 5%, falling to 42,403, while the number of free ATMs dropped to 33,710. These reductions raise concerns about the availability of cash, especially for individuals who may not be comfortable with or have access to digital payment methods.

Advocacy group Later Life Ambitions (LLA) projects that around two billion payments will still be conducted using cash as late as 2035. Jonathan Safir, deputy general secretary of the Civil Service Pensioners’ Alliance and a spokesperson for LLA, stressed the ongoing significance of cash. He stated that cash remains essential to millions and is expected to continue to be so for many years. Safir highlighted that this dependence is especially pronounced among older people, making the preservation of in-person banking services critical. He emphasized the need for individuals to have the ability to access money through the methods that best suit them.