Minister for Finance Michael McGrath published the General Scheme of the Access to Cash Bill today (Tuesday, January 23), which will be used to avoid “financial exclusion”.
The bill stems from a recommendation made by the Retail Banking Review, published in November 2022.
The review called on government officials to require ATM operators to be “authorised and supervised” by the Central Bank, and provide the Central Bank with responsibility and powers to protect the cash system.
This includes the authorisation and supervision of cash-in-transit firms in respect of cash handling activities.
The scheme published today incorporates both of these elements in one piece of legislation.
The legislation will for the first time regulate ATMs with the objective of improving operational standards and ensure good customer service.
Access to Cash Bill
In order to draft the general scheme, the Department of Finance has engaged with the Central Bank and other players in the cash system in order to establish what the appropriate levels of access to cash are.
This will work to ensure that any further evolution of the cash infrastructure will be managed in a fair, orderly, transparent and equitable manner for all stakeholders.
Minister McGrath said: “In the absence of a legislative intervention, it is likely that over time we would see more and more ATMs removed from communities across the country and I do not want to see this happen.
“In addition to protecting ATM availability, it is important that they are properly maintained and that the ‘out of service’ experience of consumers is kept to a minimum.
“This bill provides the Central Bank with regulation making powers in relation to matters such as reporting, setting service standards, and other matters such as denomination stocking.”
He added that people must not be left behind, due to financial exclusion.