The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will carry out a review, likely starting in October, into how new cash access rules have been implemented at 14 major UK banks and building societies. The rules, which came into force in 2024, require banks to assess whether local communities have sufficient access to cash services and to provide additional services, including branches and ATMs, where gaps are found.
Under the regulations, banks and building societies must respond to residents, local organisations, and other groups in a local community if they request an assessment to identify any gaps in local access to cash services. The FCA has confirmed that gaps could be filled with various measures, including Post Office facilities, and it is the responsibility of the banks themselves to deliver any necessary additional services.
Branch closures and the need for new rules
A significant number of branches have closed in recent years. From 2023 to 2025, approximately 1,488 bank and building society branches closed across the UK, according to tracking data from consumer watchdog Which?. This includes roughly 645 closures in 2023, 410 in 2024, and 433 in 2025, driven by a broader shift toward digital banking.
The FCA’s rules also stipulate that there should be no unreasonable delays in providing solutions to gaps in cash services. If frequent violations are discovered, the FCA has stated it will use its powers to rectify them.
Review details and banking hubs
In a statement, the FCA said: “Following the Treasury Committee report on ‘Acceptance of Cash’, we committed to undertake and publish a review of the access to cash regime’s effectiveness.” It added: “In the first year of the rules, we have seen 121 banking hubs open, alongside a further 93 cash deposit services such as ATMs and Post Office counters. We are committed to ongoing monitoring of the regime’s effectiveness. Our rules aim to reasonably address the local cash needs of consumers and businesses, including ensuring businesses have reasonable access to deposit facilities and can obtain different denominations of cash to provide change for customers. This can help ensure retailers who do wish to accept cash remain able to deposit and withdraw cash using nearby services.”
In areas where there is only one bank branch, the rules mandate the establishment of a banking hub, which must be active and functional before the branch closes. Banking hubs, managed by the Post Office, are shared centres offering services typically available at local bank branches, such as cashing cheques and withdrawing money.
Banks covered and scope of the review
The 14 banks that must comply with the new regulations are: IB Group (UK) plc, Bank of Ireland (UK) plc, Bank of Scotland plc (including Halifax), Clydesdale Bank plc (Virgin Money), HSBC UK Bank plc, Lloyds Bank plc, National Westminster Bank plc (including Ulster Bank), Nationwide Building Society, Northern Bank Limited (Danske), Santander UK plc, The Co-operative Bank plc, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, and TSB Bank plc.
The FCA’s powers do not extend to whether shops and other facilities accept cash. On the review, it said: “The review will contain both a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the regime, including in-depth engagement with stakeholders to ensure a range of views are considered. Our review will examine both how our policy is operating (e.g. compliance, firm response, and costs to firms) and its success in preventing significant gaps in cash access for consumers and businesses (e.g. supply-side impacts and changes in user perspectives). The review will assess the costs and benefits of the rules and if the approach to maintaining sustainable cash access services is proportionate and effective. As the powers given to us by Parliament are focused solely on cash access, we do not collect data on, or have oversight of, cash acceptance and therefore our review will not directly assess cash acceptance.”
