A domestic abuse charity has urged the government to step in and halt the closure of cash machines with new legislation in next week's Queen's Speech.
Refuge says the move towards a cashless society is "putting lives at risk" and makes it easier for abusers to control and exploit their victims.
Almost a quarter of free-to-use ATMs have vanished since 2018, making it harder for people to get hold of physical money – with many banks also closing local branches.
In 2020 ministers promised to protect access to cash, but a consultation launched last year has not yet led to any legislation.
One economic abuse survivor, speaking under the pseudonym Katie, told The Independent how her ex-husband "wiped out my bank account" and that cash was her only refuge.
“A cash safety net was really important when I tried to flee, he would track my spending so I couldn’t take lots of cash out of a machine in one go as he’d notice and be able to track the location of the cash point," she said.
"I had to save little pockets of cash gradually over time so it wasn’t detected and was easier to hide from him, this gave me confidence to know I was able to support myself and my son."
Katie said the importance of cash was also "really noticeable after I left my abuser and was left with the long-term debt he’d racked up in my name".
"It took ten years to clear the tens of thousands of pounds of debt that I was left with. Debt plans were very intrusive as all my spending was monitored and every penny had to be accounted for," she said.
“Cash was really important at that time as all my spending on my online statements had to be explained, I kept a cash fund of savings that allowed me to have some control and existed as a rainy day fund, it was awful that I had to sneak out my own money so that it was not traceable by debt collectors but it was essential especially as a mother. "
She added: "If I didn’t have that cash or wasn’t able to use it, I wouldn’t have been able to give my son that life in his early years nor have some confidence and independence over my own spending which had been controlled by my ex-husband and was now being controlled by debt collectors. It was a very traumatic time but having a safety net of cash was really important throughout that period.”
Consumer group Which? has suggested that the financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, could oversee access to cash machines and make sure all areas have easy access to physical money.
Last month research by the consumer champion group showed that since 2015, 4,685 bank branches have shut their doors, with a further 226 already scheduled to close by the end of the year – amounting to about half the UK's total network.
Age UK, a charity representing the interests of older people, has has also said millions of older people are at risk of being cut off without action.
A consultation produced by the government said that “there may be significant benefit in giving a single authority overall responsibility for setting requirements to ensure that the retail distribution of cash meets the needs of consumers and SMEs".
Ruth Davison, CEO of Refuge, said: “The move towards a cashless society is putting lives at risk. Refuge knows just how vital being able to put aside small amounts of cash can be for survivors of domestic abuse, helping them flee an abusive partner.
“Economic abuse plays a huge part in a perpetrators ability to control and monitor their partner, so the move towards digital first banking and away from cash enables perpetrators to monitor the spending of their partners more closely. Worse still, time and again we have heard from many women that they don’t even have access to their own bank accounts, making cash even more vital.
“The Government must honour its commitments on access to cash and bring forward legislation that would make accessing cash easier for survivors. It could be the difference between women fleeing an abusive partner or forcing them to stay.”
An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “We know that cash remains vital for millions of people and we are committed to protecting access to cash across the UK.
“That’s why we have consulted on plans for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash, and have already legislated to enable shops to offer cashback to customers without them having to make a purchase.
“We have considered responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.”
