Areas with fastest and slowest falls in ATM withdrawals since pandemic revealed

UK banking customers are collectively withdrawing about £100 million less from ATMs every day typically, compared with before the coronavirus pandemic, according to analysis by cash machine network Link.

In 2019, £116 billion was withdrawn from the network’s ATMs but, by last year, this had fallen by 31%, with about £80 billion withdrawn in 2024.

Total cash withdrawals from ATMs have declined in every UK parliamentary constituency since 2019, according to the analysis of Link transactions.

It has seen a trend of areas with higher levels of deprivation and digital exclusion moving away from cash more slowly than more affluent areas.

Even in the quietest and most remote constituencies, more than £400,000 was still withdrawn from Link ATMs every month last year.

‘Digital inclusion’

John Howells, Link’s chief executive, said: “Covid changed how we live, how we work, and for many people, how we manage our cash.”

He added: “The fact that areas which are more deprived are moving away from cash more slowly is a timely reminder that we cannot afford to leave anyone behind, and that we need to focus more on digital inclusion as part of how technology is rolled out across the UK.”

Here are the 20 areas with fastest declines in ATM withdrawals

Figures have been compiled by comparing 2019 volumes with 2024, according to Link, which used ATMs within 2024 constituency boundaries to make the comparison. Figures show the constituency followed by the percentage decline:

=1. Bristol Central, 67%

=1. Edinburgh North and Leith, 67%

3. Cities of London and Westminster, 66%

=4. Edinburgh South, 65%

=4. Holborn and St Pancras, 65%

=6. Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, 64%

=6. Glasgow North, 64%

=6. Sheffield Central, 64%

=6. York Central, 64%

10. Leeds Central and Headingley, 63%

11. Oxford West and Abingdon, 62%

=12. Islington South and Finsbury, 61%

=12. Edinburgh West, 61%

=12. Wimbledon, 61%

=12. Brighton Pavilion, 61%

=16. Winchester, 60%

=16. Bath, 60%

=16. Edinburgh South West, 60%

=16. Cardiff South and Penarth, 60%

=16. Nottingham East, 60%

Here are the 20 areas with slowest declines in ATM withdrawals

Figures compiled using the same method as above.

1. Weald of Kent, 22%

2. Leicester East, 27%

=3. West Tyrone, 28%

=3. Knowsley, 28%

=5. Bradford South, 29%

=5. Mid Ulster, 29%

=7. Kingston upon Hull East, 30%

=7. Birmingham Yardley, 30%

=9. Wolverhampton South East, 31%

=9. Belfast West, 31%

=9. Hartlepool, 31%

=12. Bradford East, 32%

=12. Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, 32%

=12. Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, 32%

=12. Easington, 32%

=12. Fermanagh and South Tyrone, 32%

=17. Birmingham Perry Barr, 33%

=17. Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, 33%

=17. Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, 33%

=17. North Durham, 33%