Cash: The south Wales town where machines are running out

People in a south Wales town have mentioned their money machines are running out of cash, leaving them involved over the way forward for their excessive road.

The final financial institution department in Treorchy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, closed in April, leaving the remaining money machines within the town struggling to deal with demand, a resident and enterprise proprietor mentioned.

It comes as an inquiry by the Welsh Affairs Committee discovered greater than 20 financial institution branches had closed in Wales up to now in 2024.

Research discovered Wales could have misplaced two thirds of its financial institution branches between 2015 and 2025, partly resulting from on-line banking.

On Treorchy’s Bute Street, Sara Bailey runs Hot Gossip espresso store, and mentioned her enterprise and others had suffered since Barclays closed its doorways.

“When Barclays went, it took the cashpoint it had with it,” she mentioned, including financial institution employees advised her it was “the busiest cash point in south Wales”.

There are two different money factors within the town, she mentioned, however they’ve struggled to deal with the demand, running out of cash “once, even twice a day on some days”.

“We are a cash-only business here, so we have had to turn customers away. A few other businesses here have had to do the same,” she mentioned.

A number of doorways down from Hot Gossip, Nicola Lund helps her father run Top Cards, a greetings card store, where the money machine scarcity can be having an impression.

“The Post Office is quite a way in to town as well, so older people have to walk down there to get cash out, and they don’t want to walk back – I don’t blame them,” she mentioned, including a close-by cellphone store mentioned its footfall had decreased because the financial institution closed.

“I am worried about the future of the business because of this,” she mentioned.

Barclays mentioned in an announcement shopper behaviour had modified, with the bulk now selecting on-line banking, which was mirrored within the Treorchy department.

It mentioned it had supplied a cellular van two days per week because the department closed.

Treorchy just isn’t alone in shedding its banks within the space.

Half an hour away, Mountain Ash is dealing with an identical scenario.

The town has been and not using a financial institution because the final department, Lloyds, closed in 2017.

A “banking hub” is anticipated to open within the town subsequent 12 months, which is able to permit prospects of any financial institution to withdraw and deposit money, in addition to make funds.

The service will be part of seven others throughout Wales – two of which are at present open, in Welshpool, Powys, and Prestatyn, Denbighshire.

Further places are cited for Abergele in Conwy county, Abertillery in Blaenau Gwent, Morriston in Swansea, Porthcawl in Bridgend county and Risca in Caerphilly county.

In Treorchy, a short lived hub has been opened on the location of the previous Barclays financial institution on Bute Street.

Like others in Wales it’s run by Cash Access UK – working Monday to Friday between 09:00 and 17:00 – which mentioned it was searching for a everlasting dwelling for the hub.

Research by the patron organisation Which? steered by the top of 2025, Wales could have misplaced two-thirds of the financial institution branches that have been open in 2015, leaving solely 188 left within the nation.

The Welsh Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into the problem, discovering the variety of financial institution and constructing society branches in Wales fell from 695 in 2012, to 435 in 2022, and 22 excessive road financial institution department closures had already been introduced for 2024.

Adrian Buckle, head of analysis for the commerce affiliation UK Finance, mentioned there had been an elevated pattern of banks reviewing the prices of working branches.

“If you go back 15 years, six out of 10 payments that we made were made using cash – but, as of last year, this had fallen to about 14% of payments,” he mentioned.

Mr Buckle mentioned though he doesn’t count on financial institution branches to change into a factor of the previous, the best way banks operated on the excessive road might change, together with the probably prevalence of banking hubs.

“It’s now not financially viable to have 5 – 6 separate banks which have their very own branches. But they’ll now share a department, and supply that face-to-face banking service to prospects within the space who need to financial institution that method.

“I do suppose it is one thing that we’ll see your complete business taking extra benefit of, and that will likely be one thing that will likely be good for customers,” he mentioned.