Access to cash coverage in the UK 2021 Q1

Data Published: 23/07/2021 Last updated: 16/06/2022

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We provide an overview of geographical cash access coverage in the UK at the end of the first quarter of 2021. This is the first in a series of regular updates that will monitor coverage over time.

We, together with the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), gathered data on cash access point locations and other access characteristics, including temporary closures, opening hours, and accessibility, for brick-and-mortar and mobile bank and building society branches, automated teller machines (ATMs), and the Post Office network. This analysis provides insights on the proportion of the population within a range of distances of certain types of cash access points measured from where people live.

We estimate that for access to any bank, building society, or Post Office branch, or any ATM (either free or pay-to-use):

95.6% of the UK population are currently within 2km of a cash access point
99.7% of the UK population are currently within 5km of a cash access point

For free-to-use access points only:

95.4% of the UK population are currently within 2km of a cash access point
99.7% of the UK population are currently within 5km of a cash access point

Our analysis of other access characteristics finds that:

About 14% of larger personal current account (PCA) providers, that is, larger banks and building societies which offer PCA, and 10% of other bank and building society branches were temporarily closed for 1 day or more during the first quarter of 2021.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the vast majority of bank and building society branches were operating on reduced hours compared to February 2020.
Of the brick-and-mortar bank and building society branches, 63% of larger PCA providers and 55% of other branches are wheelchair accessible, have step-free access, and have a hearing/induction loop. Excluding the branches for which some values are unknown as data was not provided, these percentages are 87% and 80% respectively.

1. Coverage
2. Other insights
3. Attributions
More on access to cash
- The future of access to cash
- UK’s cash infrastructure and consumer research

We provide an overview of geographical cash access coverage in the UK at the end of the first quarter of 2021. This is the first in a series of regular updates that will monitor coverage over time.

We estimate that for access to any bank, building society, or Post Office branch, or any ATM (either free or pay-to-use):

95.6% of the UK population are currently within 2km of a cash access point
99.7% of the UK population are currently within 5km of a cash access point

For free-to-use access points only:

95.4% of the UK population are currently within 2km of a cash access point
99.7% of the UK population are currently within 5km of a cash access point

Our analysis of other access characteristics finds that:

About 14% of larger personal current account (PCA) providers, that is, larger banks and building societies which offer PCA, and 10% of other bank and building society branches were temporarily closed for 1 day or more during the first quarter of 2021.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the vast majority of bank and building society branches were operating on reduced hours compared to February 2020.
Of the brick-and-mortar bank and building society branches, 63% of larger PCA providers and 55% of other branches are wheelchair accessible, have step-free access, and have a hearing/induction loop. Excluding the branches for which some values are unknown as data was not provided, these percentages are 87% and 80% respectively.

1. Coverage

The data comprise 72,055 known UK cash access points. Table 1 shows the total counts (see notes 1 and 2) by region for 7 types of access points:

Types A and B are brick-and-mortar bank and building society branches subdivided into larger PCA providers and all other banks and building societies. The main distinction between types A and B is substitutability. Type B branches may not offer comparable deposit or withdrawal services compared to branches serving PCA customers (for example, a building society specialising in mortgages or offering savings accounts with some access limitations) or may only be used by a specialised group of consumers (for example, a bank with a single branch specialising in providing services to a specific expatriate community). Mobile bank branches (measured by stops) are a separate type (D).
Post Office branches are subdivided into mobile / outreach branches (type E) and all other Post Office branches (type C). The outreach branches are brick-and-mortar but are more similar to mobile branches in that they are typically open for a small number of hours and/or on selected days of the week. For example, these include limited time to serve access points in community buildings in rural locations. For this reason, the mobile and outreach branches are grouped together.
ATMs are subdivided into free-to-use (type F) and pay-to-use (type G).

Table 1: Number of cash access points by type and region

Country/ region		England									Northern Ireland	Scotland	Wales	UK Total
Type	Description	East Midlands	East of England	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire and The Humber	Northern Ireland	Scotland	Wales	UK Total
A	Larger banks and building societies providing PCA (brick-and-mortar branches)	364	539	853	209	583	859	520	466	407	184	572	310	5866
B	All other banks and building societies (brick-and-mortar branches)	99	68	55	49	103	69	76	132	99	33	47	91	921
C	Post Office branches excluding mobile/ outreach	718	948	657	401	960	1213	985	788	796	454	1077	700	9697
D	Mobile bank branches	25	25	–	1	27	53	87	10	9	13	477	83	810
E	Mobile/ outreach Post Office branches	143	179	–	97	125	135	268	103	130	42	247	238	1707
F	Free-to-use ATMs	2868	3394	5754	1780	4547	5159	3158	3439	3466	1434	3984	1919	40902
G	Pay-to-use ATMs	733	874	1923	645	1533	1211	763	1383	922	349	1163	653	12152
All		4950	6027	9242	3182	7878	8699	5857	6321	5829	2509	7567	3994	72055

Download Table 1 (XLSX)

Notes 1 and 2

The counts in Table 1 are for all known access points. The number of unique locations offering access will be smaller because, for example, a typical branch will have one or more internal and/or one or more external ATMs, and these are counted separately. There are no mobile bank branches or mobile/ outreach Post Office branches in London.
While every effort has been made to ensure the dataset is complete and up to date, some omissions or other discrepancies may remain. This dataset does not include ATMs that were temporarily closed due to Covid-19 restrictions at the time the data was collected. Data on some smaller banking companies may be missing, and not all recent branch closures, openings, or other changes may have been reflected. Of the Post Office branches, only those classified by the Post Office as open at the time the data was collected are included.

We have analysed coverage for 9 groups of cash access points which are defined in Table 2. The groups are constructed by combining the cash access point types. Group 1 includes type A (larger banks and building societies providing PCA) access points only. Group 2 adds the non-mobile/outreach Post Office network. Group 3 includes all brick-and-mortar (except type B) and mobile/outreach bank, building society, and Post Office branches, thus representing locations where customers can access banking services beyond cash withdrawals or deposits. Groups 4 and 5 include the same cash access point types as Group 3, as well as all free-to-use ATMs and all ATMs respectively. Due to substitutability, as outlined above, type B branches are only included in groups 6 and 7, which cover all free-to-use access points and all access points respectively. Group 7 includes all 72,055 known cash access points. Groups 8 and 9 focus specifically on access to ATMs.

Table 2: Groupings of cash access points

Group	Description	Cash access point types included							Number of entries
Group	Description	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	Number of entries
1	Larger banks and building societies providing PCA: brick-and-mortar branches	x							5866
2	Larger banks and building societies providing PCA and Post Office: brick-and-mortar branches	x		x					15563
3	Larger banks and building societies providing PCA, and Post Office: all branches, including mobile	x		x	x	x			18080
4	Post Office, larger banks and building societies providing PCA (all branches), and free-to-use ATMs	x		x	x	x	x		58982
5	Post Office, larger banks and building societies providing PCA (all branches), and all ATMs	x		x	x	x	x	x	71134
6	All free-to-use cash access points	x	x	x	x	x	x		59903
7	All cash access points	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	72055
8	Free-to-use ATMs						x		40902
9	All ATMs						x	x	53054

Estimated percentages of the UK population living within a given distance from a cash access point are shown in Table 3. The estimates are given for the UK regions separately, as well as for England and the UK overall. Estimates for rural and urban areas are also given (see note 3).

Note 3

The definitions used for rural-urban classification differ between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. In the case of Northern Ireland, for simplicity, the 165 out of 4,537 small areas originally assigned to a mixed rural/urban category have been reallocated to either rural or urban category based on their band, with bands A-E allocated as urban and F-H as rural; see NISRA Urban-Rural Classification 2015 for more details.

The distances considered are 1, 2, 5, 8, and 16 km (approximately 0.6, 1.2, 3, 5, and 10 miles, respectively). Throughout, distances are measured as the crow flies (see notes 4, 5, 6, and 7). Measuring as the crow flies is consistent with the approaches adopted by LINK and the Post Office.

Notes 4, 5, 6, and 7

Relative to analogous travel distance, the approach based on straight line distances is likely to overestimate coverage (underestimate the areas with no coverage). The effect is likely to be more important for longer, non-walkable distances. All computations are performed in the British National Grid (OSGB 1936) projection.
All population estimates are based on 2011 census output area (OA) geographies (small areas in Northern Ireland), mid-2019 estimates of the usual resident population for OAs in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales, and for Data Zones in Scotland. Population estimates for OAs in Scotland are obtained by proportionally adjusting the 2011 census estimates using the aggregate mid-2019 population estimates for Data Zones. Population estimates for arbitrary areas are computed based on the assumption that population density is uniform over each OA. For ease of reference, columns ‘Population, 000’s’ in Table 3 reproduce these population estimates (in thousands) for all included areas.
While every effort has been made to get precise locations of all access points, some locations are precise to their respective postcode centroids only. In most cases the locations used in this analysis are those supplied by banks, building societies, the Post Office, and the LINK Scheme Ltd.
All estimates in Table 3 are reported to 1 decimal place precision. For some groups the estimates are very similar or nearly identical, for example those for groups 7 (all cash access points) and 5 (all except type B). This is attributable to the fact that many cash access points, particularly bank and building society branches, tend to cluster around settlement centres.

Table 3: Percentages of the UK population that have access to a source of cash within a given distance as of Q1 2021 (Groups 1-9)

Group 1: Larger banks and building societies providing PCA: brick-and-mortar branches

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	5.5	9.6	38.7	74.2	99.7
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	33.4	70.3	97.2	99.5	99.7
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	26	54.1	81.6	92.8	99.7
East of England	Rural	1798.6	5.9	10.4	42.6	76	99.9
East of England	Urban	4437.5	31.3	68.2	98.1	99.6	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	24	51.6	82.1	92.8	100
London	Rural	16.6	1	18.2	99.4	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	56.7	92.4	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	56.6	92.3	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	8.4	14.3	64.7	87.8	98.2
North East	Urban	2178.1	26.9	63.1	99.5	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	23.5	54.1	93.1	97.8	99.7
North West	Rural	769.5	9.7	17.8	59.5	84.4	99.4
North West	Urban	6571.6	29.8	69.9	98	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	27.6	64.5	94	98.3	99.9
South East	Rural	1875.2	5.5	10.6	52.1	85.7	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	31.4	67.9	98	99.9	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	26.1	56.2	88.6	97	100
South West	Rural	1788	8.8	15	44.1	74.5	99.2
South West	Urban	3836.7	37.9	75	98	99.9	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	28.7	55.9	80.8	91.8	99.8
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	6.2	10	44.6	80.8	99.4
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	32.8	75.3	99	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	28.7	65.4	90.7	97.1	99.9
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	7.2	11.7	46.6	76.9	98.5
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	28.8	64.9	97	99.4	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	25.1	55.7	88.3	95.5	99.7
England overall	Rural	9880	6.9	12	47.2	79.1	99.5
England overall	Urban	46407	36.4	74	98.4	99.8	100
England overall	Overall	56287	31.2	63.1	89.4	96.2	99.9
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	2.7	5.8	30.6	60.5	95.8
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	36.5	75.1	96.3	99.6	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	23.9	49.2	71.7	85	98.4
Scotland	Rural	967.6	4.9	8	35	60.5	91.3
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	38.4	72.8	94.9	98.8	100
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	32.5	61.4	84.3	92	98.5
Wales	Rural	1025.3	6.7	11.4	42.4	70.1	92.5
Wales	Urban	2127.6	30.3	62.8	96.3	99.9	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	22.6	46.1	78.8	90.2	97.6
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	6.5	11.3	45	75.9	98.1
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	36.3	73.5	98	99.7	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	30.7	61.8	88	95.3	99.6

Group 2: Larger banks and building societies providing PCA and Post Office: brick-and-mortar branches

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	43.2	66.8	94.5	99.5	100
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	80.4	98.5	100	100	100
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	70.5	90.1	98.5	99.9	100
East of England	Rural	1798.6	42.9	66.9	97.2	99.9	100
East of England	Urban	4437.5	79.3	98.2	100	100	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	68.8	89.1	99.2	100	100
London	Rural	16.6	44.6	79.1	100	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	93.5	99.9	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	93.4	99.9	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	55.6	76.6	95.3	99.2	100
North East	Urban	2178.1	83.5	99.3	100	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	78.4	95.1	99.1	99.9	100
North West	Rural	769.5	41.8	66.3	95.3	99.3	100
North West	Urban	6571.6	84.3	99	100	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	79.8	95.6	99.5	99.9	100
South East	Rural	1875.2	40.6	67.5	98.5	100	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	77.8	98.1	100	100	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	70.2	91.8	99.7	100	100
South West	Rural	1788	40.4	63.5	95.6	99.8	100
South West	Urban	3836.7	80.2	98	100	100	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	67.5	87	98.6	99.9	100
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	35.4	59.1	94.9	99.9	100
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	85	99.2	100	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	77.4	93.1	99.2	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	45.4	67.3	93.9	98.9	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	82.2	98.5	100	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	75.8	93.1	98.9	99.8	100
England overall	Rural	9880	42.2	66.2	96	99.7	100
England overall	Urban	46407	83.8	98.8	100	100	100
England overall	Overall	56287	76.5	93.1	99.3	99.9	100
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	24.4	48.6	92.4	99.5	100
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	78.4	97.2	100	100	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	58.2	79	97.2	99.8	100
Scotland	Rural	967.6	35.5	48	78.9	94.2	99.7
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	82	98.1	99.8	100	100
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	73.7	89.2	96.1	99	99.9
Wales	Rural	1025.3	44.4	66.2	92.7	98.7	100
Wales	Urban	2127.6	80	97.6	100	100	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	68.5	87.4	97.6	99.6	100
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	40.8	63.8	94.3	99.2	100
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	83.4	98.7	100	100	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	75.3	92.1	98.9	99.8	100

Group 3: Larger banks and building societies providing PCA and Post Office: all branches, including mobile

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	48.3	73.6	98.4	100	100
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	80.7	98.7	100	100	100
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	72	92	99.6	100	100
East of England	Rural	1798.6	48.3	74.6	99	100	100
East of England	Urban	4437.5	79.5	98.2	100	100	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	70.5	91.4	99.7	100	100
London	Rural	16.6	44.6	79.1	100	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	93.5	99.9	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	93.4	99.9	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	65.1	86.1	98.6	99.8	100
North East	Urban	2178.1	84.3	99.4	100	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	80.8	97	99.7	100	100
North West	Rural	769.5	47.5	75	98.4	99.8	100
North West	Urban	6571.6	84.5	99.2	100	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	80.7	96.6	99.8	100	100
South East	Rural	1875.2	45.1	73.4	99.6	100	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	78.2	98.3	100	100	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	71.5	93.3	99.9	100	100
South West	Rural	1788	46.8	73.7	99	100	100
South West	Urban	3836.7	81	98.2	100	100	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	70.1	90.5	99.7	100	100
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	41.7	68.3	98.1	100	100
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	85.2	99.3	100	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	78.6	94.6	99.7	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	50.2	74.8	97.9	99.7	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	82.5	98.8	100	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	76.9	94.7	99.6	100	100
England overall	Rural	9880	47.8	74.1	98.8	99.9	100
England overall	Urban	46407	84.1	99	100	100	100
England overall	Overall	56287	77.7	94.6	99.8	100	100
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	25.6	51.9	94.9	99.9	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	58.8	80.3	98.1	100	100
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	78.5	97.2	100	100	100
Scotland	Rural	967.6	46.4	61.6	90.3	97.7	99.8
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	83.4	99	100	100	100
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	76.8	92.4	98.3	99.6	100
Wales	Rural	1025.3	50.9	75	97.5	99.7	100
Wales	Urban	2127.6	82.4	98.4	100	100	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	72.1	90.8	99.2	99.9	100
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	46.7	72	97.8	99.7	100
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	83.8	98.9	100	100	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	76.8	93.9	99.6	100	100

Group 4: Post Office, larger banks and building societies providing PCA (all branches) and free-to-use ATMs

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	55.5	79	98.9	100	100
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	94.6	99.6	100	100	100
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	84.2	94.1	99.7	100	100
East of England	Rural	1798.6	54.2	78.5	99.3	100	100
East of England	Urban	4437.5	93.5	99.4	100	100	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	82.1	93.4	99.8	100	100
London	Rural	16.6	54.3	86.5	100	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	99.1	100	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	99	100	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	71.2	88.2	98.7	99.8	100
North East	Urban	2178.1	96.2	99.8	100	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	91.6	97.6	99.8	100	100
North West	Rural	769.5	53.9	79.3	98.5	99.8	100
North West	Urban	6571.6	95.5	99.7	100	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	91.1	97.6	99.8	100	100
South East	Rural	1875.2	53	80.1	99.7	100	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	93.6	99.6	100	100	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	85.3	95.6	99.9	100	100
South West	Rural	1788	53.5	78.1	99.3	100	100
South West	Urban	3836.7	94.5	99.6	100	100	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	81.5	92.8	99.8	100	100
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	49.3	74.1	98.7	100	100
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	96.2	99.8	100	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	89.1	95.9	99.8	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	56.9	79	98.4	99.7	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	94.7	99.6	100	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	88.2	96.1	99.7	100	100
England overall	Rural	9880	54.6	79	99.1	99.9	100
England overall	Urban	46407	95.6	99.7	100	100	100
England overall	Overall	56287	88.4	96.1	99.8	100	100
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	29.3	56.9	96.6	99.9	100
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	90.1	98.9	100	100	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	67.4	83.2	98.7	100	100
Scotland	Rural	967.6	51	65.6	91.3	97.8	99.8
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	96.3	99.9	100	100	100
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	88.2	93.8	98.5	99.6	100
Wales	Rural	1025.3	55	77.4	97.7	99.7	100
Wales	Urban	2127.6	91.8	99.4	100	100	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	79.8	92.3	99.2	99.9	100
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	53	76.6	98.2	99.8	100
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	95.4	99.7	100	100	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	87.4	95.3	99.7	100	100

Group 5: Post Office, larger banks and building societies providing PCA (all branches) and all ATMs

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	56.9	79.8	99	100	100
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	95.8	99.7	100	100	100
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	85.5	94.4	99.7	100	100
East of England	Rural	1798.6	56.1	79.9	99.4	100	100
East of England	Urban	4437.5	94.9	99.6	100	100	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	83.7	93.9	99.8	100	100
London	Rural	16.6	58.2	89	100	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	99.5	100	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	99.5	100	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	73.2	88.9	98.8	99.8	100
North East	Urban	2178.1	97.6	99.8	100	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	93.1	97.8	99.8	100	100
North West	Rural	769.5	55.7	80.4	98.7	99.8	100
North West	Urban	6571.6	97	99.8	100	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	92.7	97.7	99.9	100	100
South East	Rural	1875.2	55.4	81.6	99.7	100	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	94.9	99.7	100	100	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	86.9	96	99.9	100	100
South West	Rural	1788	54.9	79.4	99.4	100	100
South West	Urban	3836.7	95.8	99.7	100	100	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	82.8	93.3	99.8	100	100
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	50.8	75.5	98.8	100	100
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	97.6	99.9	100	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	90.5	96.2	99.8	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	58.5	80.3	98.5	99.7	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	96.2	99.8	100	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	89.7	96.4	99.7	100	100
England overall	Rural	9880	56.4	80.3	99.2	99.9	100
England overall	Urban	46407	96.8	99.8	100	100	100
England overall	Overall	56287	89.7	96.4	99.9	100	100
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	29.9	57.6	96.8	99.9	100
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	91.4	99	100	100	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	68.4	83.5	98.8	100	100
Scotland	Rural	967.6	51.9	66.3	91.4	97.8	99.8
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	97.5	99.9	100	100	100
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	89.4	93.9	98.5	99.6	100
Wales	Rural	1025.3	56.9	78.7	97.7	99.7	100
Wales	Urban	2127.6	94.2	99.6	100	100	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	82.1	92.8	99.3	99.9	100
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	54.6	77.8	98.3	99.8	100
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	96.6	99.8	100	100	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	88.7	95.6	99.7	100	100

Group 6: All free-to-use cash access points

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	55.5	79	98.9	100	100
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	94.6	99.6	100	100	100
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	84.2	94.1	99.7	100	100
East of England	Rural	1798.6	54.4	78.6	99.3	100	100
East of England	Urban	4437.5	93.5	99.4	100	100	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	82.2	93.4	99.8	100	100
London	Rural	16.6	54.3	86.5	100	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	99.1	100	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	99	100	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	71.2	88.2	98.7	99.8	100
North East	Urban	2178.1	96.2	99.8	100	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	91.6	97.6	99.8	100	100
North West	Rural	769.5	53.9	79.3	98.5	99.8	100
North West	Urban	6571.6	95.5	99.7	100	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	91.1	97.6	99.8	100	100
South East	Rural	1875.2	53	80.1	99.7	100	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	93.6	99.6	100	100	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	85.3	95.6	99.9	100	100
South West	Rural	1788	53.5	78.1	99.3	100	100
South West	Urban	3836.7	94.5	99.6	100	100	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	81.5	92.8	99.8	100	100
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	49.3	74.1	98.7	100	100
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	96.2	99.8	100	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	89.1	95.9	99.8	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	56.9	79	98.4	99.7	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	94.7	99.6	100	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	88.2	96.1	99.7	100	100
England overall	Rural	9880	54.7	79	99.1	99.9	100
England overall	Urban	46407	95.6	99.7	100	100	100
England overall	Overall	56287	88.4	96.1	99.8	100	100
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	29.3	56.9	96.6	99.9	100
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	90.1	98.9	100	100	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	67.4	83.2	98.7	100	100
Scotland	Rural	967.6	51	65.6	91.3	97.8	99.8
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	88.2	93.8	98.5	99.6	100
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	96.3	99.9	100	100	100
Wales	Rural	1025.3	55.1	77.5	97.7	99.7	100
Wales	Urban	2127.6	91.8	99.4	100	100	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	79.8	92.3	99.2	99.9	100
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	53	76.6	98.2	99.8	100
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	95.4	99.7	100	100	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	87.4	95.4	99.7	100	100

Group 7: All cash access points

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	57	79.8	99	100	100
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	95.8	99.7	100	100	100
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	85.5	94.4	99.7	100	100
East of England	Rural	1798.6	56.3	79.9	99.4	100	100
East of England	Urban	4437.5	94.9	99.6	100	100	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	83.8	93.9	99.8	100	100
London	Rural	16.6	58.2	89	100	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	99.5	100	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	99.5	100	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	73.2	88.9	98.8	99.8	100
North East	Urban	2178.1	97.6	99.8	100	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	93.1	97.8	99.8	100	100
North West	Rural	769.5	55.7	80.4	98.7	99.8	100
North West	Urban	6571.6	97	99.8	100	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	92.7	97.7	99.9	100	100
South East	Rural	1875.2	55.4	81.6	99.7	100	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	94.9	99.7	100	100	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	86.9	96	99.9	100	100
South West	Rural	1788	54.9	79.4	99.4	100	100
South West	Urban	3836.7	95.8	99.7	100	100	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	82.8	93.3	99.8	100	100
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	50.8	75.5	98.8	100	100
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	97.6	99.9	100	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	90.5	96.2	99.8	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	58.5	80.3	98.5	99.7	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	96.2	99.8	100	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	89.7	96.4	99.7	100	100
England overall	Rural	9880	56.5	80.3	99.2	99.9	100
England overall	Urban	46407	96.8	99.8	100	100	100
England overall	Overall	56287	89.7	96.4	99.9	100	100
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	29.9	57.6	96.8	99.9	100
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	91.4	99	100	100	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	68.4	83.5	98.8	100	100
Scotland	Rural	967.6	51.9	66.3	91.4	97.8	99.8
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	97.5	99.9	100	100	100
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	89.4	93.9	98.5	99.6	100
Wales	Rural	1025.3	56.9	78.7	97.7	99.7	100
Wales	Urban	2127.6	94.2	99.6	100	100	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	82.1	92.8	99.3	99.9	100
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	54.7	77.8	98.3	99.8	100
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	96.6	99.8	100	100	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	88.7	95.6	99.7	100	100

Group 8: Free-to-use ATMs

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	42.2	61.8	90.3	98.5	100
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	92.2	99.1	100	100	100
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	78.9	89.1	97.4	99.6	100
East of England	Rural	1798.6	38.2	56.2	89.3	98.9	100
East of England	Urban	4437.5	90.8	98.9	100	100	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	75.6	86.6	96.9	99.7	100
London	Rural	16.6	52.7	84.4	100	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	98.5	100	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	98.4	99.9	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	58	76.5	92.7	97.2	99.8
North East	Urban	2178.1	93.9	99.6	100	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	87.3	95.4	98.7	99.5	100
North West	Rural	769.5	41.4	63.8	92.2	97.8	100
North West	Urban	6571.6	93.1	99.5	100	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	87.7	95.8	99.2	99.8	100
South East	Rural	1875.2	35.3	57.7	92.8	99.7	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	90.5	98.9	100	100	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	79.2	90.5	98.5	99.9	100
South West	Rural	1788	35.3	52.3	86.9	97.5	100
South West	Urban	3836.7	91.6	99.3	100	100	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	73.7	84.3	95.8	99.2	100
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	34.3	52.3	85.4	97.4	100
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	94.3	99.6	100	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	85.2	92.4	97.8	99.6	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	42.5	61.6	87.8	97.1	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	92.2	99.4	100	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	83.6	92.8	97.9	99.5	100
England overall	Rural	9880	39	58.3	89.6	98.3	100
England overall	Urban	46407	93.4	99.4	100	100	100
England overall	Overall	56287	83.8	92.2	98.2	99.7	100
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	25.1	46.8	89.2	98.7	100
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	88.9	98.7	99.9	100	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	65	79.3	95.9	99.5	100
Scotland	Rural	967.6	32.5	44.2	71.7	85.8	96.2
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	94.8	99.8	100	100	100
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	83.8	89.9	95	97.5	99.3
Wales	Rural	1025.3	39.7	58.4	83.9	94.7	99.9
Wales	Urban	2127.6	86.4	98.2	100	100	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	71.2	85.3	94.8	98.3	100
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	37.7	56.6	87.7	97.1	99.7
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	93.1	99.4	100	100	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	82.7	91.3	97.7	99.4	99.9

Group 9: All ATMs

Geographic area	Rural / Urban	Population, 000's	Distance 1km	Distance 2km	Distance 5km	Distance 8km	Distance 16km
East Midlands	Rural	1286.7	45.9	65.7	92.4	99.2	100
East Midlands	Urban	3549.3	94.7	99.5	100	100	100
East Midlands	Overall	4835.9	81.7	90.5	98	99.8	100
East of England	Rural	1798.6	42.7	61.3	92.6	99.4	100
East of England	Urban	4437.5	93.6	99.3	100	100	100
East of England	Overall	6236.1	78.9	88.4	97.9	99.8	100
London	Rural	16.6	57.4	87.7	100	100	100
London	Urban	8945.3	99.4	100	100	100	100
London	Overall	8962	99.3	100	100	100	100
North East	Rural	491.9	64	80.5	93.7	97.8	99.8
North East	Urban	2178.1	97.2	99.8	100	100	100
North East	Overall	2669.9	91.1	96.2	98.8	99.6	100
North West	Rural	769.5	45.8	67.9	93.1	98.2	100
North West	Urban	6571.6	96.1	99.6	100	100	100
North West	Overall	7341.2	90.9	96.3	99.3	99.8	100
South East	Rural	1875.2	41.7	64.1	95.3	99.9	100
South East	Urban	7304.9	93.2	99.3	100	100	100
South East	Overall	9180.1	82.7	92.1	99	100	100
South West	Rural	1788	40.2	59.1	91.6	98.9	100
South West	Urban	3836.7	94.2	99.5	100	100	100
South West	Overall	5624.7	77	86.7	97.3	99.7	100
West Midlands	Rural	899.9	38.9	57.5	89	98.4	100
West Midlands	Urban	5034.1	96.7	99.8	100	100	100
West Midlands	Overall	5934	87.9	93.4	98.3	99.8	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Rural	953.5	46.7	65.9	90.4	98.1	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Urban	4549.5	95	99.6	100	100	100
Yorkshire and The Humber	Overall	5503	86.6	93.8	98.3	99.7	100
England overall	Rural	9880	43.8	63.6	92.5	99	100
England overall	Urban	46407	95.8	99.6	100	100	100
England overall	Overall	56287	86.7	93.3	98.7	99.8	100
Northern Ireland	Rural	707.3	26.3	49.2	91.3	99	100
Northern Ireland	Urban	1186.4	90.9	98.8	99.9	100	100
Northern Ireland	Overall	1893.7	66.8	80.3	96.7	99.6	100
Scotland	Rural	967.6	38	50.1	75.9	88.5	97.4
Scotland	Urban	4495.7	96.9	99.8	100	100	100
Scotland	Overall	5463.3	86.5	91	95.7	98	99.5
Wales	Rural	1025.3	46.6	65.1	87.9	96.2	99.9
Wales	Urban	2127.6	92.1	99.3	100	100	100
Wales	Overall	3152.9	77.3	88.2	96.1	98.8	100
UK overall	Rural	12580.2	42.6	61.9	90.8	97.9	99.8
UK overall	Urban	54216.7	95.6	99.6	100	100	100
UK overall	Overall	66796.8	85.6	92.5	98.3	99.6	100

Download Table 3 data (xlsx)

Figure 1 illustrates the coverage areas underlying the population estimates in Table 3. As in Table 3, the cash access points considered are those in groups 1-9. In each case the areas shown are those that do not have access to a source of cash within 1, 2, 5, 8, or 16 km. The areas shown in white have a cash access point within 1 km or nearer. The interactive tooltips show percentages of the Local Authority District population that have access to a source of cash within the above range of distances.

Download underlying data for Figure 1 maps (XLSX)

Figure 1: Access to cash coverage in the UK in 2021 Q1

View the maps in Tableau Public

2. Other insights

2.1. Temporary closures

About 14% of type A (larger PCA providers) and 10% of type B (other) bank and building society branches were temporarily closed for 1 day or more during the first quarter of 2021 due to coronavirus (Covid-19) and other reasons. Of branches that experienced temporary closures of 1 day or more, a typical (median) branch of type A or B has been closed for 2 and 13 days respectively, with the average number of temporary closure days being 10 and 13 respectively.

Temporary closures of mobile branches (type D) have been substantially more significant. About 87% of mobile branches experienced temporary closures with both the average and median number of temporary closure days being 11 for those branches that have been closed for 1 day or more.

We do not have equivalent information for Post Office branches.

2.2. Opening hours

While external and stand-alone ATMs are accessible at all times, in-branch cash withdrawals and deposits and other banking services are only available during branch opening hours.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the vast majority (about 99%) of bank and building society branches were operating on reduced hours relative to the normal opening hours (in February 2020) before the first Covid-19 lockdown.

Figure 2 shows the percentages of branches open at a given time between 7am and 7pm, Monday to Saturday (see note 8), by branch types defined in Table 1. For example, around 30% of type A (larger PCA provider) branches remain open after 2pm Monday to Friday, and around 9% after 3pm.

Figure 2 Percentages of branches open at a given time by branch type

Download PDF version of infographic (PDF)

Note 8

Some Post Office branches are also open before 7am and/or after 7pm, and some are also open on Sundays – these are not shown in Figure 2. Mobile stops and outreach branches are typically open for a small number of hours on selected days of the week, so the overall proportions of these branches open at a given time are generally low.

2.3. Accessibility

For some consumers, the use of branch services depends on accessibility features.

Table 4 shows percentages of branches which are wheelchair accessible, have step-free access, and/or have a hearing/induction loop available for the 3 types of bank and building society branches (see note 9). We do not have equivalent information for Post Office branches. The step-free access characteristic is not applicable to mobile branches.

Of the brick-and-mortar bank and building society branches, 63% of type A (larger PCA providers) and 55% of type B (other) branches possess all 3 characteristics. Excluding the branches for which some values are unreported, these percentages become 87% and 80% respectively.

Table 4: Percentages of branches with common accessibility characteristics by branch type

Accessibility characteristic	Access point type	A: Larger banks and building societies providing PCA (brick-and-mortar branches)			B: Other banks and building societies (brick-and-mortar branches)			D: Mobile bank branches
Accessibility characteristic	Sample	Yes	No	Unreported	Yes	No	Unreported	Yes	No	Unreported
Wheelchair accessible	All data	72.2	5.2	22.6	73.4	4.3	22.3	53.0	33.7	13.3
Wheelchair accessible	Excluding unreported	93.3	6.7	x	94.4	5.6	x	61.1	38.9	x
Has step-free access	All data	68.2	3.7	28.1	64.3	6.8	28.9
Has step-free access	Excluding unreported	94.8	5.2	x	90.4	9.6	x
Has hearing/ induction loop available	All data	69.4	2.5	28.1	66.8	8.9	24.3	86.7	0.0	13.3
Has hearing/ induction loop available	Excluding unreported	96.5	3.5	x	88.2	11.8	x	100.0	0.0	x

Note 9

Proportions given in the ‘excluding unreported’ rows in Table 4 are unbiased estimates of the respective true proportions provided there is no connection between the non-reporting and the value of the characteristic in question. Proportions given in the ‘all data’ rows represent worst-case scenario bounds. For example, if all the 22.6% of type A branches for which wheelchair accessibility is unreported are, in fact, wheelchair accessible, the overall proportions will be 94.8% and 5.2%, whereas if none of them are wheelchair accessible, the overall proportions will be 72.2% and 27.8% for yes and no respectively.

3. Attributions

In addition to the data collected from banks, building societies, and the Post Office, the analysis makes use of other open data and data licensed under the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement.

Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
This product contains data created and maintained by Scottish Local Government.

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