Cashpoint - Scottish bank notes, dispensed from a local ATM, Automatic Teller cash machine, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, G3 8AD

Scots 'battle' to get cash after banks and ATMs shut Scots are facing an "uphill battle" to access their cash after a large number of bank and cash machine closures, a consumer organisation has warned. Research by Which? found 339 Scottish bank branches had closed their doors since 2015, while 290 ATMs had been withdrawn in the past year. It urged the UK government to appoint a regulator to protect access to cash. HM Treasury said it recognised "the continued importance of cash, especially for more vulnerable people". It added the existing payment systems regulator was "closely monitoring developments within ATM provision". Which? said the closure of cash machines, the majority of which were free to use, had hit Scotland harder than other parts of the UK because of its "many rural communities, combined with an already devastated bank branch network". In Scotland, withdrawals from machines were down just 3.3% in 2017-18, compared with larger drops of 8.5% and 7.7% in London and the south east of England respectively.