We recommend that the UK Government should clarify their position on how the Financial Services and Markets Bill will interact with pre-existing industry-led solutions such as LINK’s Financial Inclusion Programme. Currently, LINK’s Financial Inclusion Programme is reliant on the voluntary membership of card issuers and ATM operators. We recommend that the UK Government consider legislating in the Financial Services and Markets Bill to mandate the membership of LINK for card issuers and ATM op...

We recommend that the UK Government should clarify their position on how the Financial Services and Markets Bill will interact with pre-existing industry-led solutions such as LINK’s Financial Inclusion Programme. Currently, LINK’s Financial Inclusion Programme is reliant on the voluntary membership of card issuers and ATM operators. We recommend that the UK Government consider legislating in the Financial Services and Markets Bill to mandate the membership of LINK for card issuers and ATM operators to ensure that the Financial Inclusion Programme can continue to provide free access to cash for as long as it is needed. Type: recommendation | Number: 9 | Paragraph: 59 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: In anticipation of the Government’s legislation, significant steps have been taken by industry to improve coordinated efforts by firms to meet cash access needs. In December 2021, the Cash Action Group announced that it had developed a voluntary industry model f