Local MP Sarah Newton was on hand last week to officially launch a new free-to-use cash machine in the popular village of St Mawes, Cornwall.
The cash machine located at Bohella Road, at the entrance to the car park, will now provide local residents and tourists free access to cash 24 hours a day. Also known as an ATM, cash can be obtained by customers of other banks and building societies using a card and PIN, as well as providing an up to date balance.
The new ATM launch comes as Barclays announces that the bank will keep its remote or ‘last-in-town’ branches open for at least the next two years, including branches at Falmouth, Wadebridge, Helston, St Ives, Camborne and Launceston.
This move is part of a wider commitment by Barclays to support customers in being able to access cash. This also includes introducing a new cashback scheme from January 2020, that will enable customers to access cash, without making a purchase, from local retailers in their community. The bank will start the roll out of this initiative in 200 remote towns and areas where there is no branch or ATM alternative.
Sarah Newton MP, Truro and Falmouth, added: “Access to cash remains a vital lifeline to the local community and free-to-use cash machines have a key role to play when remote branches have closed. I’m pleased that Barclays has invested in installing a new ATM in St Mawes which I hope will ensure access to cash for people who need it.”
Commenting on the newly installed cash machine, Michael Watts, Market Director for Barclays Cornwall, said: “We are grateful for the work the Parish Council has undertaken to help us secure a suitable location to install the new cash machine. It’s in the ideal location next to the car park and is already proving very popular. Even though recent years have seen a huge uptake of digital banking and card payments, we understand that cash remains an important part of most people’s day-to-day lives.”
Helen Couch, Parish Clerk, St Mawes, added: “We’re pleased to have been able to identify a suitable location and host the new cash machine. Access to cash particularly for those more elderly or not able to travel further afield is essential. This will also help support shopkeepers and traders, as well as the local economy particularly during the busy tourist season.”
As the bank focuses its investment into free-to-use ATMs and cash back at businesses as the most efficient way for cash withdrawals, it is also reducing related reliance on the Post Office. Barclays remains committed to the Post Office Framework and has increased its funding for the Post Office so that customers and businesses can still pay in cash, cheques and check their balance; however, the facility for over the counter cash withdrawals will end from January 2020. Cash withdrawal by cheque will be available subject to arrangement.
Some little known ATM facts:-
There are approximately 70,000 ATMs in the UK, each delivering on average £2.5m a year
The UK’s first ‘drive through’ cash machine was opened by Barclays on 22 May 1998 at Hatton Cross, near Heathrow Airport
The Vatican City is home to the only ATM in the world that can give instructions in Latin
The world’s most northerly ATM is Svalbard, Norway and the most southerly is at the South Pole