No holiday for ATMs as withdrawals set records

LINK, the UK’s ATM network, announced that Christmas 2014 was a record time for cash machine withdrawals. Britons flocked to ATMs on Christmas Eve for a last-minute dash for cash, making it the busiest day of the year for cash machines across the UK.

£662 million was dispensed by ATMs on 24 December 2014, with an average withdrawal of £82. The total amount withdrawn was a 22% increase on the £544 million dispensed on the same day in 2013. Overall, we withdrew £11,899 million in December 2014, an increase of 4% on December 2013 (£11,468mn).

There was also an increase on New Year’s Day, with 14% more cash withdrawn this year than last (£164 million on 1 January 2015, compared with £144 million on 1 January 2014).

There are now over 69,000 ATMs in the UK of which over 50,000 (72%) are free-to-use. Both these totals are record highs.

John Howells, CEO of the LINK ATM Scheme commented: “ATMs are going from strength to strength as cash remains a vital part of so many people’s lives.  The industry continues to invest in cash as a payment method, with more ATMs and continued innovation, for example, the new polymer bank notes announced by the Bank of England. It’s reassuring to see this time-tested payment method stand its ground, and I’m excited to see what the future will hold as we move into 2015.”