The town where people literally have no actual money - because cash machines keep running out

The banks have all deserted one Welsh town, and now the cash is fast disappearing as well. People are complaining in Treorchy that, with the banks gone, they have to rely on cash machines, but too often, they have no money in them!

Losing the banks, the last of which to depart was Barclays, was bad enough, but the few cash machines running out of money is having its own impact. Some businesses said it had lost them customers and one business has been considering not trading anymore as a result. There is a mobile bank twice a week and a banking hub is set to come to the town but businesses are worried.

Christine Gillard of coffee shop Hot Gossip, said: “It is not easy to get cash.” She said there were two cash points in town and one at the Co-op but since the bank closed and that cash point had been taken away, there were occasions when the cash machines were out of money by the afternoon.

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She said: “We’ve lost custom. We’ve definitely lost customers as many people don’t come back if the cash point is not working. It is having a knock-on effect on a lot of businesses.” Christine said a lot of older people needed a bank and didn't have access to online banking.

Nicola Lund, of Top Cards, said: “It’s definitely hard to get cash. We’re a cash only business." She said they wouldn't have a card machine because of the extra charges and those had to be passed on to the customer. Speaking about the difficulty getting cash, she said: “We are losing customers because of it.”

Nicola said she and a neighbouring business had seen “a real downturn in trade” and that she’d contacted the local MP and MS. She said her father was on the verge of going out of business altogether and the business had had some issues since lockdown and had never recovered.

Shelley James at Ty Gwallt hair salon said she had a card machine but was trying to phase it out. She said she didn’t feel the full value as she was paying for the card machine and said it was only possible to put a certain amount of cash in at the post office. At the Cosy Cafe, Keri Rees said it wasn't fair on older people as there were not that many cashpoints and they had been empty at times. Ann Barrett said: “There are no banks now. People like to see their money. It’s not acceptable I don’t think.”

Craig Weaver of D&M Davies Jewellers said more people were using card these days and that he’d seen a decrease in cash payments. He said they’d paid their staff in cash until recently but now it was by bank transfer. To get all the latest Rhondda news straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

He said that on Saturday, by the afternoon, all the cash points had run out.

The problem was recently highlighted on social media

Kieran Bailey, who grew up in Treorchy, highlighted the issue on social media and said he'd had difficulties getting cash there. He felt people should have a choice over how they paid. He said since Barclays Bank closed in the town, the other cash machines that were left couldn't cope with the demands for cash in the area and said they even ran out in the morning sometimes.

A couple of the shops in the town were cash only, he said, adding that it was such a shame that the issue existed, especially after the town was named the UK’s high street of the year in 2020. He said Treorchy “is a bit of an oasis” in the area and ran on a “micro economy” which people supported and that was one of the ways businesses kept prices down.

He said he was pro-choice when it came to how people paid and that “it’s about having the opportunity to pay either way.” He described how, recently, there were several places which only took card that he couldn’t use when waiting for his replacement bank card to arrive, so cash was a “back up plan we can’t really afford to lose.”

There were no banks in the upper Rhondda now, he said, and that the cashpoint at the Co-op in Treorchy was a bit out of the way so once people walk down to it they might not want to walk back up into town. He said those on the high street were sometimes out of cash and that there was one machine at the post office but that it was not always open.

He said: “I’m worried about it affecting businesses. I’m not anti-card. Everybody should be able to pay however they choose. It’s about being inclusive and not discriminating against anyone who haven’t got certain means.”

The views of local councillors

Local councillors Bob Harris and Sera Evans also spoke about the issue. Cllr Harris said he was having meetings about it having regularly received complaints about the situation. He said they were hoping to get some sort of resolution and that there might be a banking hub set up in the town. But he said: “We need more cash points. So many businesses are cash only.”

He said the closure of the Barclays bank in the town all happened so quickly, adding “time is of the essence.” Cllr Harris said: “I will be making every effort I can to get as many cash points as we can to maintain that viability.”

Cllr Evans said: “It is a really shocking situation that we are in. The cash flow situation is dire.” She mentioned the cash points that were left in the town including at the post office during opening times, but said this could be quite restrictive.

Cllr Evans mentioned the Barclays mobile bank that had been set up in the town but added that the issue with cash was a “knock-on effect” of banks leaving. She said some some businesses only traded with cash because banks charged for the facility for electronic payment, which was not sustainable for some.

Cllr Evans said the government needed to be doing more to help businesses and lobby banks around lower charges for electronic payment facilities. She said the issue about the sustainability of high streets and keeping banks in the town was a long standing one but that Treorchy was one of the most viable town centres in RCT and residents were rightly proud.

She said it was “really challenging” when people could not always pay the way they wished, particularly for the older generation who might not have online banking and she said “accessibility is an issue.” She suggested residents make representations to their local Member of the Senedd and the local MP.

Plans for a new banking hub

Barclays said that since its branch closed in April it had a mobile van in Treorchy two days a week. It said Cash Access UK was looking to set up a banking hub but an appropriate permanent site had yet to be found so Barclays had allowed it to use its old branch in the town as a temporary hub and this could open next week.

A banking hub provides access to counter services from different high street banks with each bank being there on a different day.