Protecting cash and banking infrastructure

Leading the debate on protecting free access to cash through a strategic media and stakeholder engagement campaign.

WE ANALYSED

Amidst the slow decline in cash usage across the UK, significant changes were made to the interchange fee – the small fee paid by banks to ATM operators for every cash machine withdrawal – forcing ATM operators to begin charging consumers fees to withdraw their own money. This exacerbated the ongoing decline of cash – despite millions in the UK still relying on cash.

The Government needed to act to protect people’s access to cash. The ongoing narrative that accepted cash’s ongoing decline and irrelevance needed to be challenged to enforce the critical role cash continues to play and secure business critical revenue streams.

Our challenge was to establish Notemachine as a leading voice and contributor to the debate, while securing legislative protection for cash access which addressed funding.

WE ACTED

We designed a strategic campaign to establish Notemachine as the leading ATM operator voice, building political advocates and create pressure for action through high profile media interventions. This included:

• Direct engagement with Ministerial and shadow ministerial  teams.
• Regular, locally tailored briefings to MPs on cash access to inform their work and parliamentary debate.
• Building relationships with other key campaigning groups to carry out joint approaches and media work.
• Proactive engagement with the FCA and PSR as the primary regulators.
• Building relationships with key journalists, regular media briefings and interviews.
• Providing data-based news hooks and reactive news-jacking, focusing on scale of cash access decline and continued demand.

WE ACHIEVED

The campaign generated significant attention from Parliament and in the media, resulting in a number of business-critical developments:

• In 2023, the Government committed to maintaining free access to cash as part of the Financial Services and Markets Act.
• We secured a commitment to “free” cash access through a Labour backed, and then Government endorsed, amendment. This will directly impact future decisions on critical funding from the delivery body, LINK.
• We generated over 400 stories mentioning Notemachine, 20 of which were in national titles including a recent Mail on Sunday national exclusive – establishing strong relationships with relevant national journalists.

This win continues to be reinforced by proactive engagement with the FCA and the Labour Government on the roll out of new banking hub infrastructure as part of their manifesto pledge.