The Yorkshire Post reports that new research by the lender Abound that estimates that just 5% of people have not withdrawn cash from an ATM in the last 12 months and that around 80% of Brits said that they took out money in the last three months

Earlier this year, the Post Office recorded a record £805m in cash withdrawals.

Yet the increasing reliance on cash comes against the backdrop of cuts to cash infrastructure and the cost of living crisis - with some using cash to help budgeting.

Which? has tracked the closure of ATMs and bank branches over the years and found since 2018, over 12,000 free-to-use ATMs - almost a quarter of the entire network - have closed.

The number of bank branches, which enable consumers to both withdraw, deposit cash and access face-to-face banking services, has dropped by over 4,600 since 2015 - with more scheduled to close by the end of the year.

Closing a bank branch is a commercial decision taken by individual firms, many of whom have cited changing consumer spending patterns for either reduced opening hours or the removal of a site.

But the impact these closures can have on local communities can be devastating.

To help support local communities the banking industry has come up with some alternative forms of accessing cash or in-person customer services, including banking hubs.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill is currently making its way through the Houses of Parliament and would hand the oversight of the cash network to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), meaning branches can’t close in communities if there were no alternative methods to withdraw or deposit cash.

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The Yorkshire Post - Bank branch closures can have devastating impact on rural communities - Jenny Ross