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<p>The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely
important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK, and
will continue to work with industry to ensure continued free access to cash. Since
1998, the number of free to use ATMs has more than doubled, from 24,600 to over 53,000.</p><p>Government
has not made an assessment of the relative poverty of areas where there are no free
to use ATMs. However LINK, the organisation behind the ATM network in the UK, carries
out an assessment of areas where there are no free to use ATMs as part of the financial
inclusion programme it runs, in collaboration with Toynbee Hall, to ensure the provision
of ATMs in areas of deprivation, where demand would not otherwise make one viable.
LINK is intending to strengthen its financial inclusion programme even further to
ensure that the need for ATMs continue to be met.</p><p>HM Treasury has not had discussions
with the Bank of England or the Financial Conduct Authority about imposing a cap on
charges to customers for ATMs which are not free to use or introducing powers to prevent
the development of areas where there are no free-to-use ATMs. The Payment Systems
Regulator (PSR) is monitoring developments within ATM provision, and is conducting
ongoing internal work on the impact that changes to interchange fees may have. The
Government set the PSR up in 2015 with the statutory objective to ensure that the
UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users. Government is confident
that the PSR will use its powers to act should any of the firms it regulates behave
in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives.</p>
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