UK Cash Access Coverage by Location Type for 2021 Q4

Geographical cash access coverage data for the UK, aggregated quarterly by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). The dataset includes locations and characteristics of bank branches, ATMs, Post Offices, and cashback vendors for October to December 2021. It provides population coverage estimates, such as 95.7% of the UK population being within 2km of any cash access point.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in physical bank branch closures based on the reported reduction of 573 branches since 2021 Q1.
• Model population access to free-to-use cash points using the reported 95.5% coverage within 2km.
• Compare cash access coverage between rural and urban areas using the separate estimates mentioned in the description.
• Assess the impact of Post Office and ATM availability changes on overall coverage, as noted for Q3 to Q4 2021.

Strengths

• Provides specific population coverage percentages (e.g., 99.7% within 5km) for different access point types.
• Tracks changes over time, noting a 9.8% reduction in large PCA provider branches since 2021 Q1.
• Includes multiple access point types: bank branches, ATMs, Post Offices, and cashback vendors.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified beyond the described 2021 Q4 period.

Provenance

Source

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), aggregated via the Government Digital Service.

Collection Method

Quarterly data gathering on cash access point locations, temporary closures, opening hours, and accessibility.

Time Range

2021 Q4 (October to December 2021), with comparisons to previous quarters.

Freshness

Quarterly updates, with data for 2021 Q4.

Geography

United Kingdom