When the first cash machine was introduced to the UK in 1967, banking was forever revolutionised, enabling Brits to withdraw their hard-earned cash at any time of day or night. But with new technologies came new ways to pay, and cash has somewhat fallen by the wayside in recent years; indeed, in 2022, half of all payments in the UK were made using a debit card.
But despite fears we’re on a slippery slope towards a totally cashless society, most of the UK public opposes the concept, with many Brits without access to technology or a bank account relying on physical notes and coins to do their day-to-day transactions.
So, it’s clear that cash is still important — but you can’t necessarily get hold of some if there’s no cash machine near you. This compelled us to ask: how does the availability of ATMs vary across the country? And where are the best and worst places in the UK for finding a cash machine? Data analysts at Merchant Machine used the latest figures from LINK to find out.
Sections
How We Conducted This Study
We used LINK’s Monthly ATM Report to calculate each parliamentary constituency’s latest count of free-to-use, pay-to-use and counter-access ATMs per 100,000 of the local population. We also combined the number of ATMs within different constituencies if they sat within a particular city to get a city count. The total count of ATMs separated any locations tied to the number of ATMs per 100k people.
Key Findings
- Manchester has the best availability of cash machines of any city in the UK (532 per 100,000 people).
- Cambridge has the worst cash machine availability of any city, counting only 71.3 ATMs per 100,000 people.
- Cities of London and Westminster boast more cash machines (454.3) per 100,000 people than any other parliamentary constituency.
- In contrast, Chesham and Amersham offers the fewest (24.8) ATMs per 100,000 people.
Comparing Cash Machine Availability across the UK
While 63% of British adults say they don’t use cash machines very often, access to cash is something we all need from time to time. But depending on where you live in the UK, cash machines might be on every corner or few and far between. Use our tool below to discover how your town ranks nationally on the number of ATMs per 100,000 people and how it compares with another location.
Manchester Has the Most ATMs per 100,000 People in Any UK City
If you’re strapped for physical cash in Manchester, you’re in luck: the city boasts the highest number of ATMs (532) per 100,000 local people of any UK city. In an increasingly cashless world, the Manchester Civic Society’s campaign to “protect cash” managed to get five institutions — including the Manchester Royal Infirmary and Whitworth Art Gallery — to return to accepting physical cash.
In second place comes Belfast (471.7), where in April 2024 the council introduced new cashless payment systems to council-run car parks. Newcastle (461.6), in third place, made the same decision in 2023, despite concerns that it would “lock out” low-income families and the elderly from being able to park in the city centre.
Meanwhile, Cambridge has the fewest (71.3) ATMs per 100,000 local people. In 2021, Cambridge City Council eliminated cash from its customer service provision, pledging to help transition locals who previously used cash to “different channels.” Also low on the list is Cardiff (72.9), a city that has seen a significant increase in the number of cashless transactions in recent years.
A Central London Constituency Ranks as UK’s Best for Finding a Cash Machine
Next, we discovered that the Cities of London and Westminster rank as the best constituencies in the UK in which to withdraw cash, counting 454.3 ATMs per 100,000 local people. Being so central in the UK capital, it’s no wonder cash is easily available here for the benefit of businesspeople and tourists alike. Glasgow Central comes next (219.4), even after a 25.7% reduction in ATMs between 2018 and 2022.
In contrast, Chesham and Amersham has the worst ATM access of any constituency in the UK, counting only 24.8 cash machines per 100,000 people. Brick-and-mortar banks — a fallback option for withdrawing cash — have been closing in the area, too, moving the local MP Sarah Green to comment: “Towns around my constituency have seen banks disappearing from their high streets at an alarming rate … Residents are worried that these closures will make it harder to do business locally and result in the isolation of individuals who cannot bank online.”
Our visualisation below reveals the best and worst constituencies for ATM access in every UK region. Blackpool South comes top in the North West of England, with 187.6 cash machines per 100,000 people. A popular holiday destination, Blackpool’s stash of cash machines might have something to do with the number of tourists who need quick access to cash for entertainment.
Meanwhile, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine ranks as the worst constituency in Scotland (44 ATMS per 100,000 people), having lost 34% of its cash machines since 2019. Hexham comes top in the North East of England (48.4), where nearly two in three local banks closed between 2015 and 2023. Its Labor candidate Joe Morris commented: “It’s clear that loss of bank branches is a cause of real concern in communities across the Tyne Valley and out further into Northumberland.”
Harrow East Ranks as Worst London Constituency to Find an ATM
After Cities of London and Westminster, Holborn and St Pancras is the next-best London constituency for access to cash machines, boasting 169.8 ATMs per 100,000 people. Nearby to major tourist attractions and home to a significant transport hub, it’s likely that cash machines in this area are invaluable to tourists and people making journeys across the country.
In contrast, Harrow East is the London constituency with the fewest (28.8) ATMs per 100,000 people, having hit the headlines in recent years thanks to a sharp decline in the availability of local cash machines. The fourth-worst constituency is Twickenham (44.2), the centre of which became a “banking desert” in 2023 after several brick-and-mortar banks closed up shop.
The Future of Cash Machines
As the UK transitions to new ways of paying, the number of cash machines across the country is dwindling; indeed, the UK lost 5% of its cash machines between 2022 and 2023, a trend that LINK predicts will only continue. For those who can’t remember the last time they had to withdraw cash, this won’t be a big deal — but it’s a cause of concern for the millions of others who have to use or prefer to use cash in their day-to-day life, considering that brick-and-mortar banks are also disappearing from high streets up and down the country.
The good news is that in 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority was empowered by the government to propose new rules for banks and building societies to maintain access to free cash machines. The government commented that this would guarantee that 95% of people in the UK would have to travel no further than three miles to withdraw cash.
Methodology
We retrieved the latest count of free-to-use, pay-to-use and counter-access ATMs for each parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom from LINK’s Monthly ATM Report. We then compared the total number of ATMs to each area’s population size (per 100,000 people).
For any parliamentary constituencies that sit within a city, we also measured the combined number of ATMs vs the city’s population.
Figures on the number of ATMs are the latest available count for December 2023 at the time of the analysis. Population counts for constituencies are 2021 estimates published by Parliament in 2024.
Any locations with ties on the number of ATMs per 100,000 people were separated by the total number of ATMs.
