Cash usage has increased for the second consecutive year as households respond to the cost of living crisis by budgeting with physical money, Nationwide has found.

Year-on-year, the building society recorded a 4% rise in the use of its ATMs, which up until 2022 had seen a 13-year decline in usage, most sharply at the start of the pandemic.

The society recorded 31.4 million cash withdrawals from its ATMs across the UK in 2024, with respective rises of 154% in Twickenham, 144% in Redruth and 92% in Purley.

Unlike the major banks which have closed significant numbers of branches in recent years, Nationwide has committed to keep all of its branches open until at least 2026.

Director of payments at Nationwide, Otto Benz, said: "ATMs play a vital role in society, enabling people to easily access and manage their money flow. We now have the largest branch network in the UK, which allows us to support customers who want access to cash, whether from our ATMs or over the counter. Unfortunately, the large banks have closed, and in some cases are still closing large numbers of branches, meaning far fewer free-to-use ATMs are available.”

The average amount of cash taken out on each withdrawal from Nationwide ATMs was around £105 in 2023, a 1% jump from the previous year.

However, it is an increase of over a quarter (28%) compared to 2019.

Nationwide stressed that ATMs are not just used for cash withdrawals. It found that nearly half (45%) of all transactions at Nationwide ATMs are used for other services, such as printing mini-statements, paying bills, changing PINs and paying in cash and cheques.

When it comes to depositing cash, the bank has seen a 10% increase in the number of ATMs used to deposit cash into accounts. The average amount deposited also increased by 29% compared to five years ago to £277.

Benz added: "ATMs do more than just dispense cash - nearly half of transactions are from people paying money in, checking their balance or paying a household bill. This goes to show this is far from the end for cash and we will continue to offer our customers the ability to access their money on their terms whether that be digitally or in branch."

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