Why doesn’t the UK have smart ATM’s?
Posted by Key-Transition4634@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 65 comments
ATM’s in the uk only serve the purpose of withdrawing money but in countries like Spain you can withdraw, pay bills, add money and you can do all of the above with contactless using your phone and the funny thing is that using UK contactless you can access your bank in Spain.
Why is the UK so old schooled when it comes to ATM’s? NatWest does allow contactless withdrawals but they are only available limitedly across the UK
Brewer6066@reddit
My only experience of Spanish ATMs was that it was impossible to find one that didn’t charge a fee. On that basis alone our’s are far better
Grafitti31@reddit
We were in Spain a couple weeks ago, anything with a big "ATM" sign on it was aimed at tourists and charged a fee. I did find that the Unicaja bank atms didn't charge me anything for withdrawals - not sure about other banks.
Visa5e@reddit
As we move to a cashless society the things you mention are less important. Theres no incentive to spend money to upgrade the systems to accommodate dying needs.
Cash machines are basically for getting cash, and thats it.
infamaous@reddit
A cashless society is a bad thing that we should be resisting heavily. CBDCs are not your friend.
gownautilus@reddit
Why? What's wrong with convenience?
infamaous@reddit
Convenience with a heavy dose of control and surveillance.
Looking at how easily a government can be co-opted by a mad man - these kinds of powers can so easily be abused to functionally “de-bank” an individual.
Or let’s say that the new climate initiative of 2037 prohibits the amount of fuel or meat an individual is allowed to purchase, it will be very easily done via CBDC whether it’s right, fair or in your best interest or not.
Rapid fire round: geofencing, “expiry dates” on your digital currency making it impossible to save money, negative interest rate’s disguised as storage fees, integration with Social credit systems etc.
Our future is very dystopian regardless, but they’ll take me kicking and screaming.
And I say all of this a former civil servant.
missuseme@reddit
Isn't most of that irrelevant unless you're also paid in cash? If they wanted to do all those things they could also just stop you withdrawing cash from your bank.
infamaous@reddit
Last time that I checked, cash still exists physically.
In a world where it does not exist physically, and it is 100% digital - 100% control, anonymity, privacy, and whatever “right” you perceive to your money is lost completely. That is the difference. Zoom out.
Visa5e@reddit
Thats not true though. I literally cant remember the last time I physically handled cash. And I remain free to spend my money on whatever I want.
SO you can hypothesis that that might change in the future, but any hypothesis can also be applied to cash. eg. what if the government starts tracking banknote serial numbers? Or embeds NFC in coins?
If you're devoted to conspiracy narratives you're gonna have to go back to a barter system when money itself ceases to exist.
infamaous@reddit
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Just because you have the ability to spend on whatever you want right now, doesn’t mean this will always be the case. Just as an example, over 500,000 people die per year as direct/ indirect result of economic sanctions - this is a fact. shrink this down the the macro level and tell me again how it’s all a conspiracy narrative.
These powers do not sit still, they grow to become even more invasive.
You may be just fine with ceding all of your purchasing capabilities to the same handfuls of runaway capitalists that are fucking over humanity worse than we’ve ever been fucked over. But I’m not, that doesn’t make me a conspiracy theorist.
The difficulty is, individuals cannot opt out. But people who see no problem with this like yourself will opt everyone else in, forever. Our children’s children will be totally beholden and functionally enslaved even more so than we already are.
Visa5e@reddit
Please explain how, by not using cash, i'm 'ceding all of your purchasing capabilities to the same handfuls of runaway capitalists that are fucking over humanity worse than we’ve ever been fucked over.'
Because last time I checked Bill Gates wasnt leaning over my shoulder checking what im buying in Tescos....
infamaous@reddit
There is colossal public-private collaboration on all projects like this. I’d know first hand.
Let’s look at the online safety act, legislation that forces everyone in the UK to submit their personal information into US based propriety software such as Persona.
Let’s look at Palantir’s infiltration of the NHS.
Let’s look at the dodgy PPE procurement decisions made during BoJo’s covid era resulting in very suspect and favourable deals given out and creating new millionaires and billionaires.
You asked me to explain how by not using cash you’re opting in to a system that allows absolute control of the movement of money into the handfuls of a few. Let’s flip it on its head:
Do you believe the Gov will act alone in implementation a system like CBDC?
If we agree they will not act alone, Do you believe that private interest have your best interest at heart? Or their bottom line?
Capitalism requires constant growth. With CBDC’s you’re not only ceding your ability to privately transact, you’re giving your data to private companies that are increasingly interested in YOU and your data as the product.
What you bought, where you bought it and what you’re likely to buy next.
Please let’s not pretend there’s no private interest in this information and that there’s proven history of this data being passed around dubiously.
We are talking about a “black box” monitoring your every transaction and reporting back to what amounts to a banking insurance company that can arbitrarily programme all of your money to do whatever they want.
To pretend a counter argument against something this massive and invasive is just conspiracy to be disregarded is silly, but you do you.
Meta made £200bn off of “advertising” leveraging their massive personal data collection in FY 25/26. More than any other of their monetising strategies.
WhiteDiamondK@reddit
Unless you’re keeping all your money under your bed in paper bags, using a debit card versus cash in Tesco really isn’t going to make a huge difference.
I had a number of friends who run small businesses, some are card only and other accept, but don’t like taking cash. Any business screaming “cash is king” means the are creatively accounting, as processing cash can be just as expensive as card transactions, plus if you keep cash on your business premises, your insurance is more expensive.
infamaous@reddit
Online banking is not the same as a CBDC
Visa5e@reddit
And a CBDC doesnt imply the dystopia you're envisaging.
Visa5e@reddit
'Lets say...'
So your objection is based around an entirely fabricated future scenario?
infamaous@reddit
Yeah sure, supply side shocks of say Oil and toilet paper literally never happen in any crisis! Think of 2020 and 2026 🤔 great years
Everything will be perfect forever and absolute control of all of humanities ability to trade and barter going into the hands of the same unelectable people who created the 2008 financial crisis can be absolutely trusted with 100% of our trade capabilities.
Are you one of those guys who doesn’t care about digital privacy because you have “nothing to hide”, by any chance?
tomcat_murr@reddit
A cashless society is a neutral thing.
I've honestly got no preference, but it's really the government who are subsidising cash at this point. If they really want to push everybody towards digital transactions then they're going about it in a very odd way.
terryjuicelawson@reddit
This sounds like a really clunky way of doing that which only made sense in the days when not everyone had banking apps on their phone or PC. If we missed the boat on that - no problem really.
iffyClyro@reddit
Some banks in the UK do have ATMs like the ones you’re describing. Santander certainly do which figures given they’re Spanish.
dbxp@reddit
Santander in the UK is the remnants of Abbey National
iffyClyro@reddit
Kind of but not really.
dbxp@reddit
They do exist in the UK in branches, they're just not very popular as most people stopped using cash before they came on the market
WhiteDiamondK@reddit
I use an ATM maybe once or twice a year. My old barber used to be cash only, but where I go now is card only. My old car wash was cash only, the new one is cash or cad, so I never have any regular reason to draw cash out.
All of my banking transactions are done online. There’s a banking hub in a nearby village for the one time last year I needed to pay cash into my bank account.
Smart ATMs would have been groundbreaking 25 years ago, now they are unnecessary.
Underwritingking@reddit
Ah yes. Let’s advance our ATMs to something that’s already obsolete🙄
ActionBirbie@reddit
Why would anybody want such a feature in this day and age?
At last in the developed world, cash and Cash Machines are going the way of the dodo.
The internet exists now.
mhoulden@reddit
Fewer machines available and the ones that remain are increasingly outsourced to companies like Note Machine and Cardtronics: https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/access-to-cash-7000-cash-machines-have-disappeared-in-the-last-three-years-aRNx60q5N4Ji
Bank operated ones on the street can (or at least could) let you transfer between accounts but it's a pain being stuck behind someone doing that when you just want to take out a tenner. Self service machines in branches have a lot more functionality. They're essentially online banking terminals with a cash box that uses your card for authentication. I don't want to think about the security needed to stop people attacking them for the unsorted cash, cheques and other documents that might be in them.
Banks also pay the Post Office a lot of money to handle banking transactions that can't be handled by machines. In the last Post Office annual report that I read, the banks paid them £500 million for banking services that year.
I'm not particularly bothered about central bank digital currencies. The government demonetizes particular coins and notes from time to time. The only coins that haven't changed size since decimalisation are 1, 2 and 20p ones. The paper £5 was withdrawn in 2017 and the last paper bank notes were withdrawn by 2022. In theory they could print more bank notes or restrict them if they wanted to.
wardyms@reddit
A time traveller from 2000 forget to change accounts.
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
I have a natwest account I can pay a cheque in from my sofa - if ive gone our without my wallet I can get cash without my card from their machines or tesco machines- all my bills are on direct debit !
Dazz316@reddit
I barely go to the cash machine as it is. I never even take my wallet out anymore. I can pay bills and everything else from my phone. What can these machines offer that I can't do from my phone?
PipBin@reddit
Because we can do all of that online. Why would I want to go and stand in the street and do it?
AllThatIHaveDone@reddit
Particularly a street in the pissing rain. The reason why people are happy to stand in the open to do this stuff in Spain is because the weather's a wee bit nicer than here.
Kind_Werewolf_7246@reddit
I don't think anyone is going to an ATM for all of that. Why go to the high street and use my phone to access my bank account, when my phone can do all of it without me moving?
PuzzleheadedLow4687@reddit
I guess this is the answer really. Cash usage in the UK is pretty low, so there aren't as many ATMs as there used to be and banks aren't investing in them. Mobile and internet banking usage in the UK is high so there is no demand for services like paying bills at an ATM. The few people who want to pay bills with cash probably don't trust ATMs anyway and would do it in a bank branch, post office or PayPoint shop.
Kind_Werewolf_7246@reddit
Yes, the lack of trust in ATMs is definitely another part of it. I'm unsure of the culture around it in Spain, but whenever I use an ATM here, I still witness people covering their PIN numbers and I even sometimes irrationally check for a spy camera or something. It's pretty engrained in us all and I can't see that changing to the point that people feel comfortable managing their lives via these rapidly disappearing holes in the wall.
PuzzleheadedLow4687@reddit
Covering your PIN and checking for unofficial modifications are both sensible precautions.
thecraftybee1981@reddit
According to this https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-countries-that-use-the-most-cash-in-2025/ 57% of transactions in Spain use cash vs 10% in the UK.
ATMs are mostly a dying technology here so I don’t see banks willing to invest in them as people don’t use them as often. I know ATMs at my bank allow you to put cash in to them as well as withdraw, but I’ve never used it. The other things you mentioned can be done online or automated using direct debits.
With cash being so much more prevalent in Spain I’m sure the banks are happier to invest more heavily in them.
Additional-Guard-211@reddit
Most people pay most bills via direct debit and don’t use cash. Using a random ATM would only up security issues. I would also have to have my card. Your vision is the opposite of futuristic!
neilm1000@reddit
There are deposit machines, but the reality is that cash is only around 10% of transactions so paying in via an ATM just isn't a service there is a call for. No one pays bills at the bank so why would you need that?
Quite a few banks offer contactless withdrawal.
Particular-Quit-630@reddit
I use the paying in cash regularly with business banking. Using the machine is free, while paying in over the counter is something like 0.8%.
neilm1000@reddit
That's interesting, I assumed all business banking was charged for.
unalivexmastree@reddit
Cash is king imo. Yes apps and transfers and all that are useful for paying bills. But if money is tight, need to budget etc physical cash means something.
LongjumpingTear3675@reddit
Thank you for bringing smart ATMs to my attention; it shows we’re behind what other places already have.
PuzzleheadedLow4687@reddit
I think it's actually because we are ahead of other places that we don't have them. We have no need for smart ATMs because cash use is low and most people pay bills by direct debit or online banking.
Physical-Bear2156@reddit
I can do all that in the security of my own home. No chance of anyone looking over my shoulder and much less chance of my information being skimmed.
woman_on_the_move@reddit
We can do all that only at machines that are sited within banks and effectively you can only do this within banking hours. It's pointless as the people who want to do all these things prefer waiting for bank staff to do this for them. The rest of us just do all this online at home. Thankfully now most areas have access to ATMs where you can withdraw cash free of charge. We need to protect and use these services before they disappear too. I needed cash once in helsinki on a sunday and had a hard job finding an ATM. There's still a place for cash but I dont want to be standing at an ATM paying my bills in the street
No-Cherry-6678@reddit
Most banking is done on line now in Uk -cash is rarely used so ATMs are being used less and less. Most people just use their phones
DaveBeBad@reddit
Why would you want to do all that with an ATM when you can do it on your banking app from the comfort of your settee?
(And the Santander ATMs at branches allow most of those functions iirc)
Freedom-For-Ever@reddit
I agree completely... Most UK Banking Apps allow you to pay in a cheque, so why would I want to go to a machine to do it?
I can't remember the last time I had been given cash that I needed to pay into my account...
Having said that, most bank branches do have either multi purpose machines that allow you to pay in cash or cheques, print full statements etc. but there would be too much overhead for the machines at supermarkets to provide these services and that would mean paying a fee for the service...
NewPumpkin8217@reddit
My local Nationwide has ATMs with these features in branch, too.
Not_Alpha_Centaurian@reddit
I need an ATM once every few months when i need cash for the dog sitter, who has had a "problem with the bank" preventing online transfers for at least the last six years...
I don't need to use an ATM for any of the things you just listed.
PuzzleheadedLow4687@reddit
Tax dodging then?
octobod@reddit
I last used a ATM eight months ago to get out a £50 to stick in my wallet as a fall back. ... I've not spent any of it. I pay bills online ... the ATM is kind of irrelevant to me.
Dissidant@reddit
Can't remember the last time I set foot in a bank, you can deposit cheques/cash at the post office and they tend to either have a cash machine or be near one
All bills done online 99% of post is junk
t8ne@reddit
Why would you want to pay a bill via an atm? Bit thinking about the ones in Barclays all those things can be done but I probably go into a branch less than once a year so can’t be certain. I know the local atm does card less as I need to get cash out to pay the gardener.
But smart atms sound a little dated tbh. Almost like those 70s tv shows describing life in the future where you’d go into a towns computing capsule to read / send your electronic letters.
Psychological-Bag272@reddit
We have banking app and internet to pay bills online. Smart ATM would be a bonus but quite redundant IMO.
tiny-brit@reddit
"old schooled"? Paying your bills via an ATM in the street is hardly modern and futuristic 🤷♀️
Most of us pay our bills by direct debit, and pay by card or contactless in stores, so ATMs are become less and less required.
GroundbreakingRing42@reddit
Just a fun fact. The first ATM was opened in the UK in Enfield, London.
First withdrawal was by Reg "On the Buses" Varney.
Source: my mum was there 😅
1AlanM@reddit
Like everything else useful in the world it was invented by a couple of Scotsmen. One invented the machine, the other invented the card and pin technology that made it more useful.
Easy-Equal@reddit
Cash is on the way out with usage decrease every year so it would be a waste of money to upgrade every cash machine
Numerous-Abrocoma-50@reddit
As others have said. Why ?
The majority pay bills online. How often do people deposit cash ? Cant remember last time I did. Occasionally I get cash maybe every few months but ATMs do fine.
There are lots of areas uk could do with upgrading. Dont think this is good use of resourcea
Naive_Reach2007@reddit
Some banks already have these in branch. Admittedly is getting harder and harder to find branches.
Easy-Equal@reddit
Most lloydes banks have cash machine that allow you to deposit cash, I assume the reason most normal ones don't is that very few people use cash at all anymore so its a lot of money to spend upgrading when cash use is become less and less every year
Alert_Mine7067@reddit
I think my local Santander branch has a contactless ATM, pretty sure I waved the card over the contactless part and it asked me for my pin before doing anything. I was a Santander customer at the time, and haven't used it in a while so I'm not sure if it works across other banks.
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