Britons are relying MORE on money, reveals Nationwide

Britons are relying more on cash despite the nation’s depleted number of ATMs as big banks shut, new figures from Nationwide Building Society suggest..

Nationwide revealed cash withdrawals from its ATMs hit £4.2 billion in 2025 – surpassing the previous high of £4 billion in 2017.

The biggest increase in cash withdrawals was recorded in parts of the London commuter belt, in East Anglia and Essex, the Shires and South London.

It also says that cash usage rose for the fourth year in a row, withnearly 35million withdrawals made from Nationwide’s 1,270 ATMs last year, 6 per cent more than in 2024.

The average amount of cash withdrawn also went up from £113 in 2024 to £120 in 2025.

Nationwide said its customers are using more cash and the building society’s machines are seeing greater footfall due to its banking rivals shutting branches. 

While Nationwide has extended a pledge to keep all its branches open, big banks continue to shut theirs. A staggering 6,626 bank branches have shut their doors since January 2015, according to Which? – an average of around 53 closures per month.

Money in their pockets: Cash usage rose for fourth year in a row, according to Nationwide – with nearly 35million withdrawals made from its ATMs

Mandy Beech, director of retail services at Nationwide, said cash continues to play a central role in how millions of people manage their money.

She said: ‘Nationwide has the UK’s largest branch network and we see daily how our customers value cash and face-to-face service. That’s why we’ve promised to keep all our branches open until 2030.

‘ATM usage last year exceeded the previous peak in 2017 and while it is interesting to see ATM withdrawals continuing to rise, it is exacerbated by ongoing closures of bank branches. 

‘Which? figures show there has been a massive reduction in the number of branches in communities, which might point to why we are also seeing a rise in withdrawals coming from non-Nationwide customers.’

While Nationwide’s ATM numbers are up, the rising ATM usage comes against a backdrop of continued bank branch closures. 

Branch closures often result in the loss of accompanying ATM’s and this decline in cash machines means that the overall amount being withdrawn is actually falling.

Fresh figures from the ATM network LINK show that in 2025, Britons withdrew £76.7 billion from LINK ATMs, with 1.27bn transactions being recorded across the year. 

This represents a 4 per cent decline in value on 2024 (£80bn) and an 8 per cent fall in transactions (1.39bn). 

LINK transactions represent 77 per cent of all ATM transactions, most of the remainder being where people use their own bank or building society’s ATMs.

‘While the variance to 2024 changes month to month, the overall downward trend is clear,’ said Graham Mott, director of strategy at LINK.

‘Yet, cash remains important to many people and £76 billion was still withdrawn from LINK ATMs last year. 

‘People may be visiting cash machines less often and some are relying exclusively on a digital wallet on their phone, but cash continues to be a vital budgeting tool for many. It remains an essential and resilient payment choice for millions.’