The UK's daily, weekly and monthly cash habits
Issue 320 | 11 May 2022
Four cash facts (week ending 8 May 2022)
The volume of ATM transactions:
decreased by 26% when compared to the final week before the first COVID lockdown.
decreased by 7% when compared to the previous week in 2022.
increased by 11% when compared to the equivalent week in 2021.
increased by 33% when compared to the equivalent week in 2020.
Daily LINK ATM transaction volumes
The graph below from LINK shows Tuesdays’ transactions over the last four years clearly showing the fall in 2020 as the first Lockdown was announced.
Recent Tuesdays’ ATM use has been very consistent at almost exactly 4 million a day.
The following graph shows the recent daily LINK ATM transactions from the last four years clearly showing the fall from pre-pandemic levels but also the increase between 2020 and 2022 with the first Lockdown in 2020 still being in force over this time.
2022 has seen a peak in daily activity in the lead up to the bank holiday with growth falling back again after the weekend. Each year has followed a similar pattern of activity albeit with a significant difference between the pre-pandemic levels and the lows through Lockdown.
LINK, the UK’s main ATM cash machine network has recently published its latest research looking at COVID-19’s effect on consumers’ attitudes to cash.
Two years on, half of people (50%) say they are using less cash than they were pre-Covid. One quarter (25%) say they are using the same with 4% using more.
Graham Mott, Director of Strategy, LINK: “We monitor ATM use across the UK on a daily basis, but these studies add another layer. After two years of research, we now have a detailed picture of how people are using cash and why throughout the pandemic.
“LINK’s view is that ATM use will never return to pre-pandemic levels and that people who perhaps were using less cash generally are now entirely comfortable using their phones or contactless. That being said, we’re still seeing £1.5bn withdrawn from ATMs every week. That’s still a lot of money and there are a lot of people who rely entirely on cash.
“Looking ahead, one new development and one we will be monitoring carefully, is that 8% of people say they are going to use more cash to budget and save because of rising living costs. We understand that people are far more comfortable using technology, but importantly, not everyone can use digital and perhaps there’s no better way to budget than notes and coins.”
Weekly LINK ATM transaction volumes
Last week there was a total of 31.2 million ATM transactions which represents a decrease of 2.3 million ATM transactions over the previous week.
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