ATM withdrawals have plunged, with the average adult making just 15 trips to cash machines in a year, figures reveal.
There were 832million withdrawals in the UK last year – around 9 per cent less than in 2024 – as the use of digital payment methods continued to rise.
Londoners have abandoned cash at the quickest rate since 2019, when ATM data was first recorded. Last year the average consumer in London withdrew £1,458 each from machines, marking a 43 per cent drop.
It was followed by the rest of the South, where withdrawals fell by 42 per cent.
In the South West, the average person took out just £974 – marking the first time that the data has dipped below £1,000 for any region. ATM users across the UK typically withdrew £1,352 last year – a 5 per cent decrease compared with 2024.
Northern Ireland remained the most ‘cash heavy’ zone, with consumers withdrawing an average £2,249. But this is still a decrease of 23 per cent since 2019.
There were 832million withdrawals in the UK last year – around 9 per cent less than in 2024
In England, the North East withdraws the most cash, at around £1,604 – a decline of 32 per cent.
Meanwhile, consumers in Wales take out around £1,355 each year, which has fallen by 32 per cent. In Scotland ATM users withdraw an average £1550 – 40 per cent less than before the pandemic.
Link, the UK’s main cash machine network, which conducted the research, said that ATMs still make up the bulk of withdrawals in the UK, ahead of cashback and counter transactions at bank branches and post offices. And although people are visiting ATMs less often, they are withdrawing more cash when they do.
Just under half of adults (48 per cent) said they carry a physical purse or wallet with them, often favouring contactless payment methods.
However, 61 per cent said they had experienced payment failures and systems outages, which meant they had to abandon purchases or rely on other people to pay for them.
And 51 per cent reported they had used cash in the last week.
The figures only cover Link ATMs. The company said by the end of last year there were 5 per cent fewer cash machines than in 2024.
Of these, 33,710 are free to use and 8,693 charge a fee.
Graham Mott, director of strategy at Link, said: ‘Even though usage is falling in every part of the UK, cash remains essential to millions of people.’
