Members of the public will soon be able to directly contact the Central Bank if they believe access to cash services in their local area has become inadequate.
Tánaiste and Finance Minister Simon Harris is expected to approve new proposals from the Central Bank aimed at strengthening the State’s access-to-cash framework, reports RTE.
The measures build on rules introduced last year that established minimum requirements for cash services across the country.
These include targets for the percentage of people in each region who must live within 10 kilometres of an ATM and a cash service point, as well as minimum ATM numbers per 100,000 residents, reports RTE.
Under the updated guidelines, members of the public and small business owners will be given a direct mechanism to raise concerns where access to cash services in their community is no longer meeting local demand, even if the wider region continues to satisfy the national criteria, reports RTE.
The proposals will allow individuals, businesses, community groups and representative organisations to notify the Central Bank when they believe a local shortage of cash services exists or may develop in the near future.
The guidelines will outline the information required when making a complaint, explain how the Central Bank will assess concerns, and detail the criteria it will use to determine whether a local deficiency exists and whether corrective action is required, reports RTE.
When reviewing complaints, the Central Bank will consider a range of factors including ATM or bank branch closures, population growth, travel distances, geographical challenges, demographic issues and the overall impact on financial inclusion within the area.
Earlier this year, the Central Bank published its first quarterly report on access to cash and concluded that Ireland’s cash infrastructure generally remains compliant with the standards established by the Minister for Finance, reports RTE.
The report found that there are more than 4,000 ATMs and over 1,200 cash service points operating nationwide, although it identified six instances where the required criteria were not being met.
A spokesperson for Simon Harris said it is important that both consumers and small businesses retain confidence in their ability to access cash services whenever they need them, reports RTE.
They added that the new guidelines will provide communities with a clear and structured process for raising concerns if access to cash in their area begins to deteriorate.
The Central Bank will also publish information on the notifications it receives and provide updates on how each case progresses through the assessment process, reports RTE.
Organisations such as the Irish Rural Link have previously welcomed the Government’s efforts to safeguard access to cash services, particularly in rural communities.
The move follows a 2023 vote in the Dáil to protect access to cash after a review of the banking sector highlighted growing concerns that some businesses were refusing to accept cash payments following the widespread shift towards electronic transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports RTE.
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