How people use cash
The amount of money being withdrawn from ATMs is reducing
We operate in the public interest, to provide the UK's main cash machine network and secure cash access across the country. Our Board is independent, and our work is regulated by the Bank of England and the Payment Systems Regulator.
Total cash withdrawals
| Total Cash Withdrawal Volumes (Millions) | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free to use | 2,215 | 2,293 | 2,432 | 2,591 | 2,634 | 2,723 | 2,765 | 2,735 | 2,700 | 2,793 | 2,842 | 2,832 | 2,769 | 2,738 | 2,677 | 2,548 | 2,374 | 2,129 | 1,261 | 1,199 | 1,276 | 1,222 |
| Pay to use | 53 | 80 | 96 | 108 | 118 | 113 | 101 | 92 | 86 | 81 | 73 | 67 | 62 | 59 | 56 | 50 | 46 | 73 | 71 | 57 | 51 | 44 |
Around 95% of cash withdrawals are free of charge, but the number of withdrawals has fallen sharply in recent years. Consumers are choosing to use contactless payment and are shopping online instead. Despite this, around £1.6bn is withdrawn from our network every week. These figures include cash withdrawals by customers at their own banks' or building societies' ATMs.
LINK Transaction Volumes
| Monthly volumes (millions) | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 209 | 207 | 232 | 220 | 232 | 221 | 226 | 225 | 211 | 214 | 208 | 204 | 2,609 |
| 2020 | 185 | 181 | 155 | 91 | 110 | 117 | 139 | 141 | 139 | 138 | 118 | 129 | 1,643 |
| 2021 | 99 | 97 | 114 | 123 | 131 | 133 | 140 | 140 | 137 | 141 | 133 | 135 | 1,523 |
| 2022 | 118 | 117 | 134 | 135 | 138 | 135 | 144 | 137 | 132 | 134 | 132 | 130 | 1,586 |
| 2023 | 115 | 114 | 127 | 128 | 132 | 130 | 129 | 128 | 124 | 123 | 121 | 122 | 1,493 |
| 2024 | 106 | 111 | 120 | 115 | 124 | 120 | 121 | 121 | 111 | 115 | 1,164 |
These figures include balance enquiries and rejected transactions made through the LINK network, but do not include transactions made by customers at their own banks’ or building societies’ ATMs.
LINK Cash Withdrawal Values
| Cash Withdrawal Values (millions) | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 8,788 | 8,859 | 10,211 | 9,701 | 10,354 | 9,837 | 10,070 | 10,271 | 9,336 | 9,512 | 9,494 | 9,985 | 116,418 |
| 2020 | 8,182 | 8,258 | 7,450 | 4,399 | 5,664 | 5,972 | 7,076 | 7,105 | 6,903 | 6,939 | 6,016 | 7,044 | 81,008 |
| 2021 | 5,062 | 5,127 | 5,995 | 6,446 | 6,809 | 6,757 | 7,242 | 7,177 | 6,928 | 7,156 | 6,785 | 7,478 | 78,962 |
| 2022 | 5,946 | 6,018 | 6,952 | 7,047 | 7,065 | 6,921 | 7,481 | 7,054 | 6,848 | 6,959 | 6,932 | 7,558 | 82,781 |
| 2023 | 5,979 | 6,022 | 6,837 | 6,883 | 7,063 | 7,016 | 7,025 | 6,931 | 6,743 | 6,673 | 6,780 | 7,435 | 81,387 |
| 2024 | 5,864 | 6,279 | 6,882 | 6,511 | 7,032 | 6,791 | 6,937 | 6,998 | 6,430 | 6,693 | 66,417 |
These figures do not include withdrawals made by customers at their own banks’ or building societies’ ATMs.
History of LINK transactions
| Total Transaction Numbers (millions) | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash withdrawals | 5 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 100.20 | 300 | 350 | 400 | 600 | 900 | 1,100 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 2,100 | 2,200 | 2,400 | 2,450 | 2,500 | 2,600 | 2,700 | 2,400 | 2,450 | 2,500 | 2,600 | 2,700 | 2,900 | 3,000 | 3,100 | 3,150 | 3,160 | 3,170 | 3,180 | 1,500 | 1,540 | 1,560 | 1,400 |
| Other transactions | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 80 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 850 | 900 | 1,000 | 1,050 | 1,100 | 1,150 | 1,160 | 1,160 | 500 | 400 | 300 | 400 |
Cash machines on our network offer a range of services. The vast majority of people use them to take out cash, but this graph tracks the number of times they are used for all services, including balance enquiries, PIN changes and rejected transactions. These are transactions processed by LINK and do not include transactions made by customers at their own banks' or building societies' cash machines.
More open data that we've recently published
Frequently asked questions
We publish relevant data in both summary graphics on these pages, and in accessible formats to download and analyse. If there is more information that would assist you in understanding cash access across the UK, please get in touch via info@link.co.uk.
We provide regular datasets on a range of topics. Some datasets are published weekly, others monthly or annually. Each dataset will make it clear how frequently it is updated. It is worth noting that the ATM network changes frequently, and any data published on these pages should be considered a snapshot at a moment in time.
We are happy to support non-commercial and anonymised use of our data for research purposes. Please get in touch with us via info@link.co.uk if you have a specific request.
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