The Community Access to Cash Pilots (CACP) are today fully operational with 85 organisations working across eight locations to help test solutions that will keep cash supported in local communities.
For the first time we have created a new model for high-street banking in the form of brand new Post Office Bank Hubs, live in Cambuslang and Rochford. The hubs have been set up on the local high street in dedicated retail spaces to exclusively support customers for their cash and other financial transactions. They will offer access to basic banking and cash withdrawals and deposits through a counter operated by the Post Office, which will support the customers of all major retail banks. The bank hubs will also provide access to face-to-face community banking services, provided by those banks which have the most customers in each area. These services will support the customers of all of the major banks, and allow the privacy and security people expect in a bank branch.
Nine pilots were chosen last year based on their location, the issues the communities faced, and the local people willing to lead the pilots. The locations are: (England) Botton Village (North Yorkshire), Burslem (Staffordshire), Lulworth Camp (Dorset), Rochford (Essex), (Northern Ireland) Millisle (County Down), (Scotland) Cambuslang (South Lanarkshire), Denny (Falkirk), (Wales) Hay-on-Wye (Powys). As the community were unable to find an appropriate site for the banking hub in Ampthill (Bedfordshire), this location is sadly no longer part of the pilot.
Each community is trialling a number of different solutions, based on meeting the needs of local communities. In addition to the Bank Hubs, other services include:
- Speedy and automated local cash deposit facilities for small businesses, so that retailers don’t have to close to travel to a nearby town bank branch to deposit their takings
- Existing Post Office branches restructured and refurbished with cash services streamlined to make it easier for local residents and businesses to withdraw and deposit cash quickly and safely.
- Pop-up Post Office services, allowing small communities to access basic banking services over a Post Office counter within an existing small shop
- Widespread ‘cashback’ from local stores, restaurants and pubs – as well as from PayPoint counters, and new app-based digital services – to widen the options for people to get cash locally, and to help business reduce their own costs of depositing cash
- New, free to use ATMs
Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services, or have help managing their money.
Several of the services, including the new free to use ATMs and the cashback-without-purchase trials have been operational for several months. However, lockdown restrictions have led to delays on certain elements of the pilots going live and as many non-essential shops and leisure sites have been closed. As the economy reopens, we hope that these pilots will help consumers and small businesses alike keep cash viable for the many who need it.
These pilots operate in a wider context of a UK-wide cash infrastructure under threat, millions dependent on cash, and a government commitment to legislate to protect cash access. Recent research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) shows that during the pandemic, 15% of UK adults struggled to cope without access to bank branches and ATMs, while 16% suffered as more businesses stopped or encouraged customers to use contactless or digital payments. FCA research suggests that 5 million people remain dependent on cash.
The aim of these pilots is to trial solutions which could have wider applicability across the UK. The pilots will run until October 2021 and then will report back their findings.
CACP is chaired by Natalie Ceeney CBE, the author of the Access to Cash Review and brings together the resources and expertise of the financial services industry (including all of the major retail banks) with those of the Access to Cash Review panel. The team is also working closely with a wide range of local and national consumer groups and charities to bring in-depth expertise to help support the work.
Natalie Ceeney, Chair, Community Access to Cash Pilots: “Many more people are shopping online and using digital or contactless payments now, even for items that they would have paid for with cash before the pandemic. However, cash remains critically important, not only as a back-up when payment systems go down, but for millions of people who can’t use digital payments, don’t have reliable broadband or mobile coverage or simply cannot afford or don’t have access to wider banking services that many of us take for granted.
“I’m delighted that the pilots are up and running, and am keen to see what local communities think of the new services. We’re bringing back local banking services through bank hubs, and also giving people new ways of getting cash through cashback, a service which should also help local businesses as cash is more likely to be spent locally. The new services to support small businesses deposit their cash are also really important to sustaining cash. If small businesses can literally pop out for five minutes and bank their takings, rather than drive to the next town, find a parking space and then queue for twenty minutes, then it will hopefully stop businesses from deciding to go cashless because of the cost and hassle of banking cash.
“These pilots are important, but it is more important action is taken to sustain cash for the longer term. As communities across the UK have already seen, once infrastructure is gone, it is very difficult to replace. Last week we had a welcome step that will introduce legislation to allow retailers in future to offer cashback without purchase. While I look forward to seeing the results from the pilots, but we urgently need the Government to publish its promised next steps to protect access to cash, so that if these pilots are successful, they can be rolled out rather than closed”.
Nick Read, Chief Executive, Post Office: “BankHubs are an exciting expansion of our role in safeguarding a sustainable future for cash, as well as providing wider financial services in partnership with the banks. Post Offices up and down the country ensure access to vital banking and cash services in communities and are imperative for financial inclusion. The BankHubs that have opened today in towns without a high street bank can make a real difference to supporting the cash needs of local people and businesses.”
Matt Hammerstein, CEO of Barclays UK: “Everyday banking is changing all the time – ongoing trends mean that we’re continually looking at and investing in more flexible ways of serving customers. We’re proud to support solutions across the industry that keep cash available in communities to meet local demand, and we look forward to seeing the outcome of these pilots to help us continue to provide sustainable access to banking and cash to all that need it.”
Full details of each pilot are below or on the CACP website.
ENDS
Notes to editors: An overview of the selected pilot schemes, and what they will be piloting locally:
Botton Village (North Yorkshire): Botton village is a very rural, unique campus location with a high number of vulnerable customers. It is part of the Camphill Village Trust, a national charity which provides supported living and day opportunities for adults with learning and other disabilities at its various communities across England. The community population in Botton Village is around 700, with a wider local community of around 2,000. This community is very dependent upon cash, and the Trust are keen to support their residents to learn budgeting skills and become more financially independent, which they find easier to do with cash than digital payments. At the same time, local cash facilities are very limited.
Botton Village will be piloting:
- An ATM in the village which is disability friendly
- A ‘Post Office in a box’ solution, enabling the local shop to offer Post Office services, including cash access, cash deposits and cheque deposits
- Cashback (with purchase) from the local shop
- Financial, Digital and Budgeting Education specific for this community
- Widespread advertisement of what the banks can offer vulnerable customers
Burslem (Staffordshire): Burslem, the mother town of the six towns that amalgamated to create Stoke, in 2018 became the first town in the UK with a population of over 20,000 to have neither a bank branch nor bank ATM on its high street. The Burslem community are keen to explore solutions for the local retailer population to deposit and withdraw cash, to have access to cash for the thriving night time economy and to support consumers with budgeting and digital options.
The Burslem community will be piloting:
- A ‘financial hub’ space in the local Methodist Church, with community banking support from the major banks, debt advice, and support for financial issues
- A refurbished Post Office which can better meet community needs, including SMEs, offering deposit automation to provide faster transactions and improved customer journeys.
- Cashback with purchase offered by a large number of local stores
- Cashback without purchase offered by PayPoint convenience stores
- “Cash in Shop” without purchase offered digitally by Sonect, an innovative new service allowing the public to use the App on their Smartphone to absolutely guarantee they can get the cash they need from a local retailer.
- Widespread advertisement of what the banks can offer vulnerable customers
- Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services
Cambuslang: Cambuslang is a town of c.28,600 people, the third largest town in South Lanarkshire, but since 2018 has been unbanked following the closures of branches by three banks in quick succession. According to the latest version of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), some 40% of areas (data zones) in Cambuslang East and 25% in Cambuslang West are in the bottom 20% of the SIMD. The Cambuslang community are keen to address two key issues, first, supporting financially vulnerable customers in accessing cash, and second, supporting small businesses to be able to access and bank cash. The local leaders of this pilot, Cambuslang Community Council, are passionate about the opportunity to support their community though better access to cash, education and, ultimately, influencing the coming legislation change.
The Cambuslang community will be piloting:
- A Post Office Banking Hub in an empty retail outlet, with the Post Office offering transactional services in a private environment, with community banking support from the major banks, debt advice, and support for financial issues
- Cashback with purchase offered by a large number of local stores
- Cashback without purchase offered by PayPoint convenience stores
- Widespread advertisement of what the banks can offer vulnerable customers
- Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services, designed for the Cambuslang communi
Denny (Falkirk): Denny is a small town located between Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a population of circa 8,000, and with 16% of the population over 65 years old. They are a semi-urban location that has seen a reduction in their access to cash facilities. They are looking to improve the cash deposit and withdrawal facilities for both small local retailers and consumers, and also want to support their community to be able to budget and access cash digitally.
The Denny community will be piloting:
- Cashback with purchase offered by a large number of local stores
- A refreshed Post Office with improved cash facilities which can better meet community needs
- Cashback without purchase offered by PayPoint convenience stores
- Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services
- A digital solution to coin recycling supported by Shrap – an innovative new service which allows consumers to store change on a card or app, saving retailers from managing small change
- Widespread advertisement of what the banks can offer vulnerable customers
Hay-on-Wye (Breconshire): Hay’s population is less than 2,000, a number which includes a wide cross section of people from a variety of social backgrounds. Hay has a large proportion of independent retailers, and a lot of visitors, making businesses’ ability to access and deposit cash key to the viability of the community. The annual book festival raises additional challenges, in terms of large numbers of people needing to access a very limited cash infrastructure for a short period of time. The local leaders of the Hay pilot are keen to explore a wide range of solutions to support their needs, including both a traditional cash access/ deposit infrastructure, and also supporting greater digital inclusion.
The Hay-on-Wye community will be piloting:
- Longer opening hours at the existing Post Office, with the installation of an automated deposit taking machine for local businesses, and services reconfigured to meet local needs
- A small space in a vacant retail outlet with community banking support from the major banks, debt advice, and support for financial issues
- Cashback with purchase offered by a large number of local stores
- Cashback without purchase offered by PayPoint convenience stores
- Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services
- Widespread advertisement of what the banks can offer vulnerable customers
Lulworth Camp (Dorset): Lulworth Camp is in a remote part of Dorset. It is a Ministry of Defence army barracks with around 2,600 troops through the camp, often with no cars, therefore relying on public transport. There are also circa 80 different families plus service personnel who are permanently on camp. The closest village is West Lulworth which has a population of around 700 people, and which is also a famous tourist spot as it is situated on the Jurassic coast. Access for cash is a real issue for the families that live on the camp and recruits who train there, with no onsite banking or ATM facilities.
The Lulworth Camp community will be piloting:
- A Post Office offering in Lulworth camp, to support a wider number of basic banking services including cash deposit and cash withdrawal transactions
- A free to use ATM at the Lulworth camp
- Digital options for the retail outlets on site at the camp.
Rochford (Essex): Rochford has a population of around 20,000, and bid to become a pilot community primarily to support its ageing population who are heavily reliant on cash, as well as to support small businesses in the local community to can struggle to easily deposit cash locally. There are also surrounding areas, including Hockley, which also have limited access to cash facilities. There is an established working party looking at wider regeneration of the local towns which this pilot will work with.
The Rochford community will be piloting:
- A Post Office Banking Hub in a currently empty retail venue, comprising a bank-style counter service able to process transactions with privacy, as well as community banking support from the major banks, debt advice, and wider support for financial issues
- An automated SME deposit facility in the Post Office Bank Hub
- A new free-to-use ATM in the Post Office Bank Hub
- Cashback with purchase offered by a large number of local stores
- Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services
- A digital solution to coin recycling supported by Shrap – an innovative new service which allows consumers to store change on a card or app, saving retailers from managing small change and helping consumers consumers save their change
- Widespread advertisement of what the banks can offer vulnerable customers
Millisle (Northern Ireland): Millisle is a community of 3,500 people. it is in the top twenty paces of deprivation in Northern Ireland as a result of a high percentage of people on benefits. The community has both an aging and young population and sees its population almost double in the summer months due to tourism seasonality. The town has a strong working group looking at both access for cash and wider community issues.
The Millisle community will be piloting:
- Changes at the Post Office, with services reconfigured to meet local needs
- A small space in the local community hub to offer community banking support from the major banks, debt advice, and support for financial issues.
- Dedicated space in the local community hub for people to access their online facilities with support from volunteers.
- Cashback with purchase offered by a large number of local stores and the community hub
- Digital education services to help those who want to access digital banking services
- A digital solution to coin recycling supported by Shrap – an innovative new service which allows consumers to store change on a card or app, saving retailers from managing small change and helping consumers save their change
- Widespread advertisement of what the banks can offer vulnerable customers
About the Community Access to Cash Pilots: The Community Access to Cash Pilots (CACP) initiative is working with a number of communities across the UK to trial and test scalable solutions to help keep cash sustainable. The initiative is supported by the banking and finance industry which will provide resources in the form of financing and local staff who understand what is possible, linked to a central team who have the influence to make things happen. The pilot programme is also supported by a wide range of consumer groups and charities, who will also bring their expertise to support the work. The pilots launched in April 2021 and run until October 2021.
Pilot communities have been selected by an independent board, chaired by Natalie Ceeney CBE, who led the Access to Cash Review, and supported by a mix of industry, small business and customer representatives. The full board includes:
- Natalie Ceeney CBE, Chair
- Lady Margaret Bloom CBE, Kings College London
- Martin McTague, Federation of Small Businesses
- James Daley, Fairer Finance
- Tim Allen, Barclays
- Helen Grimshaw, RBS
- Iain Gibson, Sainsbury’s Bank
- Adam Bishop, Santander
- John Howells, LINK (observer status)
https://www.communityaccesstocashpilots.org
About Natalie Ceeney CBE: Natalie Ceeney CBE has a career spanning the public and private sectors in the United Kingdom. Her career includes a strategy consultancy background at McKinsey & Company, membership of the Executive Team of HSBC UK leading on customer standards, and three CEO roles including of The National Archives; the Financial Ombudsman Service; of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. Natalie is currently Chair of Innovate Finance, a non-executive director of Sport England, of Ford Credit Europe and of Anglian Water Services Ltd. She led the independent Access to Cash review, which published in March 2019.
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