New legislation will require banks to provide adequate ATM coverage
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Banks will be required to provide additional ATMs in areas of low coverage under new legislation being brought to Cabinet this week.
Finance minister Michael McGrath is to bring forward an Access to Cash memo to ensure people have the ability to withdraw money and do not have to travel long distances to an ATM.
The Bill breaks the country into eight geographical areas and sets out regional criteria for the minimum numbers of ATMs per 100,000 people, as well as the proportion within 10km of a cash service point, be it through banks or post offices.
Responsibility for compliance will rest with the three main retail banks in the first instance, meaning Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Bank, and Permanent TSB could be forced to install new ATMs if the level of coverage goes below the criteria.
At the moment 96.8% of the population in the west of the country is within 10km of an ATM machine, in the midlands it is 97.8% and in the South East it is 99.1%.
The current number of ATMs per 100,000 in the border region is 95 and in the Midlands it is 75.
The Bill also provides for the remedying of so called 'local deficiencies'. These are locations within a region where particular difficulties arise in accessing cash.
Mr McGrath is conscious that there has been a significant drop in the number of retail banks operating in Ireland, with just three now remaining in the marker where previously there were 12.
Cash usage has also declined, with around €13.5bn withdrawn from ATMs in 2022 down from just under €20bn before the pandemic.
Despite these changes in the use of cash, Mr McGrath has stressed that it cash is still an important means of payment for many in particular older people and low income households.
Ahead of the new laws coming into force, the minister wrote to all government colleagues to ask that bodies under their aegis maintain existing payments.
“It is my expectation, now, that all public bodies that currently accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash should continue to do so,” Mr McGrath told ministerial colleagues last Autumn.
The legislation will ensure that access to cash is maintained initially at December 2022 levels, accounting for the exit of KBC and Ulster Bank by placing an obligation in this regard on retail banks.
The legislation will also require ATM operators and cash in transit companies to be authorised and supervised by the Central Bank of Ireland.