There is a wave of realisation coming across the UK if not the world that cash will remain for the foreseeable future and is a cornerstone of our payment system. Much in the same way we still print a photograph at times to put into a picture frame or in the same way we must print an airline ticket to get onto an airline. Yes, we have all the other methods of boarding a plane with your phone or seeing a photograph on your phone or tablet however at times the hardcopy is a necessity.
Cash has for decades not been hated by the retail banks, rightly so they have seen FinTech’s take their profitable sectors and leave them with the high-cost infrastructure. Cash is as a huge cost and so banks see it as an inconvenience., so we see now the banks rapidly moving towards branchless environments.
However, this is not what the consumer or small business wants. We must realise that cash and physical copies of other items are a much-needed necessity in our normal lives which are convenient, secure and sometime demanded be that for security or be that because that’s the only media available in a no internet environment which does exist.
The bottom line is people demand choice, and deserve it.
The removal of rural bank branches can pose several challenges for society. Here are a few reasons why it is a concern:
- Limited Access to Financial Services
Removing rural bank branches can limit access to essential financial services for people living in rural areas. This can make it difficult for individuals and businesses to access banking facilities, make transactions, and access credit.
- Impact on Local Economy
Rural bank branches often play a crucial role in supporting the local economy by providing financial services to farmers, small businesses, and residents. The closure of these branches can have a negative impact on the economic growth and development of rural communities.
- Financial Inclusion:
Closing rural bank branches can hinder efforts towards financial inclusion, as it may exclude vulnerable populations in rural areas from the formal banking system. This can further widen the gap between urban and rural areas in terms of access to financial services.
- Increased Dependence on Online Services:
While digital banking is becoming more prevalent, not everyone in rural areas has easy access to the internet or may not be comfortable with online banking. Removing physical bank branches can force rural residents to rely solely on online services, which may not be feasible for everyone.
Overall, the removal of rural bank branches can have far-reaching consequences for society, particularly for those living in rural and underserved areas.
The trend is also at odds with cash in society. For the following reasons:
- In a recession people revert to cash as a means of budgeting, a means of limiting their spend
- Cash is a convenient and quick transaction, in fact a lot of small retailers no longer accept card payments under £20 due to the high card fees
- With cash usage then SME (Small Medium Enterprises) need a means to deposit their cash
- Online crime discourages people from trusting online payments which can also be complex so cash provide security
Government is trying to address the matter but slowly and oozing with bureaucracy. We need government support and we ask for this urgently. The Access to Cash initiative has been around for 3 years now with a handful of locations. The issue is not and we ask everyone customers and small businesses to petition their local councils for change.
At SMEB our vision is a world where rural societies are micro payments arenas where cash circulates locally from the deposit terminal to the butchers and back. Where the customer has choice and where every member of society has a right to use cash free.
SMEB will deploy thousands of self-service devices covering all aspects of the banking world from cash deposit, to lending, to insurance to just talking to your bank. The SMEB Cube will offer privacy for financial transactions and privacy to talk to your bank.
We have built this the hard way, not like our competitors who have built a managed service where the bank provides the financial system but where SMEB is the Payment Institution able tom deploy under our own FCA licence.
SMEB will deploy the service initially for SMEs who will pay a small fee for access however a major bi product of our service is we will address Financial Inclusion with free access to cash.
Andrew Martin, CEO & Founder, SMEB