Celebrating five years since opening of the first banking hubs

Published on 24 April 2026

Cash Access UK is celebrating the fifth anniversary of the opening of the first banking hubs and their growing role in helping to provide access to cash and basic banking services to customers across the UK.

The first hubs opened at the end of April 2021 in Rochford, Essex and Cambuslang, in South Lanarkshire in Scotland as part of a pilot project to understand how to improve and protect cash access within local communities. The pilots were led by Natalie Ceeney, now Chair of Cash Access UK.

As a result and due to the success of the pilot hubs, the banking industry agreed to rollout the model for other locations across the UK with LINK recommending locations and Cash Access UK delivering the new solutions including banking hubs, deposit ATMs, cash hubs or enhanced banking services in Post Offices. This rollout has been further supported by the Government’s commitment to open 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament, alongside the FCA’s Access to Cash regulations introduced in 2024, which legally require designated banks and building societies to assess and fill gaps in local cash access.

Five years on and banking hubs are now an increasingly familiar sight on high streets up and down the country, with 70% of people now aware of banking hubs. Cash Access UK has delivered over 370 services including 234 banking hubs. LINK has recommended 276. In 2025, Cash Access UK set up an impressive 101 new hubs, representing a 98% year-on-year increase in openings.

To mark the anniversary, Cash Access UK has published data on the popularity of the hubs and how they are being used. This includes:

  • An average of 167 transactions every day taking place across banking hubs with the busiest hub in Acton averaging almost 450 transactions a day.
  • Nearly one million customer transactions every month supported through hubs and wider cash services.
  • Nine in ten banking hub transactions are personal, with the remainder from business customers, predominantly depositing cash, helping sustain local cash acceptance.
  • The most popular service used by personal customers is withdrawals (2,059,721 in 2025) and by businesses is deposits (334,941 in 2025).
  • Customer feedback is overwhelmingly positive - 9 in 10 customers would recommend their local banking hub.
  • 95% of customers’ cash and banking needs were met in the banking hub.

Banking hubs are shared spaces on the high street that look and feel like a traditional bank branch but can serve nearly all banking customers under one roof. Each hub offers:

  • A counter service operated by the Post Office, where customers of all major banks and building societies can carry out regular cash transactions, Monday to Friday.
  • A community banker service where customers can talk to their own bank about more complicated banking issues. A different bank is available each day on rotation.

Alongside banking hubs, over 140 deposit services are now live across the UK. Deposit services allow small businesses to deposit and access cash either through deposit ATMs, where customers from different banks can bank cash, enhanced banking services in Post Offices, where there is a separate counter for banking customers, or cash hubs which provide communities with access to assisted cash and basic banking services through a brand new counter service.

Cash Access UK also launched a new innovative Cash Service in Ripley this month. Similarly to a banking hub, customers of all major banks can easily access everyday cash services in a shared space. A member of the Cash Access UK team is also on hand at the Ripley service to provide support to customers on banking queries as well as signpost and connect customers to the most appropriate support from their bank.

Gareth Oakley, CEO, Cash Access UK:

I am very proud of what we have achieved over the past five years and am delighted to see the difference our services have made for communities and local businesses across the UK. While there has been a significant shift towards digital‑first banking, digital or online solutions don’t yet work for everyone, and access to cash and face‑to‑face banking services remains vital for many people. The continued popularity and growing usage of our banking hubs and the other services we are rolling out is clear proof of this. We’re excited to continue building on this hard work, expanding our services and driving innovation as people’s needs continue to evolve.

 

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