Record figure for cash taken from UK ATMs in single day

£730 million was dispensed by ATMs on 23 December 2016, with an average withdrawal of £87.

This is the highest ever amount of money dispensed in a single day by UK cash machines and is a significant increase on last year’s record day for withdrawals, which was the £634 million taken out on 24 December 2015.

Overall, more than £12bn was withdrawn from ATMs in December, an increase of 3.5 per cent on December 2015 (£11.6 billion).

There are now over 70,000 ATMs in the UK, of which almost 54,000 are free-to-use.

John Howells, CEO of the LINK, said: “With this record for ATM withdrawals, it is clear that cash plays a vital part in so many people’s lives, and we fully expect it to do so for many years to come.

“With over 70,000 cash machines in the UK, LINK is committed to making sure consumers have safe and reliable access to their cash.”