Countryside Alliance Briefing Note - Access to Cash - 21 May 2019

COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE BRIEFING NOTE

ACCESS TO CASH

Westminster Hall Debate

"Financial exclusion and the future of access to cash" Seema Malhotra, Lab, Feltham and Heston

Tuesday 21 May 2019, 9.30-11.00am

Background:

· Sweeping bank closures are being blamed by banks on the lack of usage, with fewer and fewer users going into their local branch and preferring to bank online. However, closures in rural areas, especially in the absence of reliable mobile or broadband connectivity, can present particularly serious challenges.

· Rural communities are among the slowest to move to digital, often due to limited access to broadband. They also have a larger proportion of lower income, older and more vulnerable users who still prefer, or need, to use cash.

· Access to money and finance in rural areas is increasingly difficult. 20 per cent of the population live and work in rural areas and yet only 12 per cent of bank branches and 11 per cent of cash machines are located there.click here