The Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to provide 300 extra free cashpoint machines for Britain's poorest communities is only a small step towards redressing the damage inflicted by the closure of nearly 6,000 branches over the last 16 years.
The cashpoints may have disappeared but the communities and their need for cash didn't go away. As a result, there has been a rapid rise in the number of fee-charging cash machines to replace the free ones that have disappeared.
The Citizens Advice Bureau says that of the 53,000 cash machines in the UK, around 20,000 of them are fee-charging, with deprived rural and urban areas the worst affected.
The Treasury Select Committee has investigated the rapid growth in fee-charging cash machines, but concluded that they are a model of convenience that do not pose a threat to the free-to-use network.
But many people living in poor communities have little choice but to use a fee-charging machine. A recent Guardian Special Report highlighted how residents in the Peak District not only have to battle with over-inflated house prices and low-paying jobs, but are often obliged to travel to the next village to get access to a free cashpoint as well.
The Association of Convenience Stores argues that the provision of fee-charging cash machines is by far the most cost-effective way for many consumers to get access to cash: it is far better, they argue, to have to spend £1.75 for that access than to have no access at all.
If you live in area where there is a dearth of free cash machines, then log on to the site specially provided by RBS to register your request for a free cashpoint near you.
