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The company is enlisting the help of retailers after a study by the company found that 43 out of 48 areas of the UK still had more than half the population relying on cash for day to day spending.
More than two thirds (67%) of all purchases in PayPoint’s network were made in cash in 2020/21, with one in five people (21%) still using a cash machine two to three times a week.
PayPoint’s new scheme, called Counter Cash, enables anybody to withdraw up to £50. Retailers earn commission on every transaction they process.
Nick Wiles, chief executive of PayPoint, said: “Bank branches and ATMs have been disappearing at an alarming rate over the last few years and the UK’s rapid growth in digital payments, across every corner of the economy, has left millions of people who use cash every day at risk of being left behind.
“Today PayPoint is laying out its long-term commitment to do everything it can to ensure easy, free cash access, working with partners across industry and government, ahead of the official launch of PayPoint Counter Cash on 1 November.
“The service will not only enable people to make exact withdrawals, down to a single penny, unlike an ATM, but will also be completely free to customers and profitable to the retailers that offer it.”
Imran Hamid, who runs the Day-Today Express, in Dennyloanhead, Falkirk, and took part in a Counter Cash trial, said: “Denny is a town where we used to have TSB, a Royal Bank of Scotland, a Bank of Scotland, a Clydesdale Bank and now they’ve all shut.
“I think it’s just a community thing where we try to help and give back something.
“We’ve also got people who are on benefits here and they want access to their cash.
“That’s another good thing about this – they can withdraw anything from a penny to £50.
“If someone on benefits has only got £3.50 left in their bank account and they want that £3.50, I can give it to them and it’s not going to cost them anything.”
