£5 note has disappeared from cash machines

username

Stuart_W said:

The last time I used a cash machine that offered fivers was over 25 years ago at university!

I used to remember the Lloyds machine at Kent uni used to dole out crisp paper fivers, all brand new. it was a nice bit of novelty given that most fivers were pretty battered easily back then.

beyondthestars

Nat West cash machines 

WillPS

beyondthestars said:

Nat West cash machines 

It depends which specific location and machine you use; like every other bank.

13thlegion

username said:

Stuart_W said:

The last time I used a cash machine that offered fivers was over 25 years ago at university!

I used to remember the Lloyds machine at Kent uni used to dole out crisp paper fivers, all brand new. it was a nice bit of novelty given that most fivers were pretty battered easily back then.

Was that the one just through the arch that many didn't notice was there? By campus security? Fivers every time.

There are only 2 free cash machines left in my town now, one consistently gives out £5 notes. I'm only ever withdrawing £10 a time however as the chip shop only accepts cash, rest of the time I'm cashless and use debit card or contactless.

username

13thlegion said:

username said:

Stuart_W said:

The last time I used a cash machine that offered fivers was over 25 years ago at university!

I used to remember the Lloyds machine at Kent uni used to dole out crisp paper fivers, all brand new. it was a nice bit of novelty given that most fivers were pretty battered easily back then.

Was that the one just through the arch that many didn't notice was there? By campus security? Fivers every time.

There are only 2 free cash machines left in my town now, one consistently gives out £5 notes. I'm only ever withdrawing £10 a time however as the chip shop only accepts cash, rest of the time I'm cashless and use debit card or contactless.

That's the one, you have a very good memory. I'd forgotten it was hidden behind an archway and there was also a Barclays machine and branch on the same strech, alongside a Natwest branch. I recall all the big clearing banks had some sort of presence on campus, and even if they didn't have a branch, they had their own cash machine.

TheBanker

If you are especially bothered, you can ask Link to look into whether your nearest cash machine can stock fivers. There's a special form: https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/suggest-existing-atm-to-dispense-5-notes/

There have been a few initiatives over the years to increase the number of £5 notes in ATMs. The problem is that, if the ATM is busy/popular it will run out of cash more quickly. If you replaced a casette of £10s with £5s, you'd only have half as much money available before the ATM ran out. If you replaced £20s with £5s, you'd only have a quarter of the money available.

This is less of a problem for internal cash machines in branches, as they can usually be filled up during the day. But external machines can normally only be filled up when the branch is closed, and machines at railway stations, supermarkets etc require a cash courier to visit to replenish (which costs money). That is probably why it's the internal ATMs that most commonly have fivers in stock.

20 years ago, I used to be responsible for making sure two branch ATMs had enough cash. We were the only bank on that street, which was the 'main drag' in the town where all the pubs and bars were. We had a special insurance dispensation to load more cash than was normally allowed, given the demand. Even then, there were times (e.g. freshers week or bank holiday weekends) where we'd fill the ATMs after the branch closed, but they'd still run out of cash over the weekend. This could even happen on a weeknight if one of the ATMs went out of service e.g. due to someone jamming something in the slot. 

If higher value notes mean better availability, then I think that's probably for the best.

Rich2808

WillPS said:

beyondthestars said:

Nat West cash machines 

It depends which specific location and machine you use; like every other bank.

Agreed - certain Natwest machines issue £5 notes.  All the Natwest machines at one large London railway station issue £5 note - but at another big station none do. Seems to be little logic to it!