The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill 2024 was published by the Department of Finance on 31 July 2024, following publication of the General Scheme earlier this year.

The Access to Cash Bill is a key deliverable arising from recommendations made as part of the November 2022 Retail Banking Review Report, with questions on cash access and cash acceptance also forming part of the Department of Finance’s National Payments Strategy: Public Consultation in December 2023 (read our insights on that consultation here: National Payments Strategy: Department of Finance consults on its plans).

Key aspects of the Access to Cash Bill are as follows (these are not substantively different to the proposals set out in the General Scheme).

Cash Infrastructure

Cash infrastructure is to be maintained at (approximately) December 2022 levels initially (with KBC and Ulster Bank data removed).

Regional Requirements

The Minister for Finance will be able to set criteria by NUTS3 region in Ireland (of which there are 8 such regions).  Those criteria will stipulate:

• The minimum numbers of ATMs per 100,000 people (the Minister may also stipulate the minimum number of ATMs per 100,000 people that must be available outside normal hours of ATM operation).
• The percentage of the population that must be within no less than 5km and no more than 10km of an ATM.
• The percentage of the population that must be within no less than 5km and no more than 10km of a cash service point (e.g. bank branch or post office) where cash and cheques can be lodged.

The Central Bank will be empowered to assess local deficiencies (regions where it is particularly difficult to access cash) and require designated entities to address those deficiencies.  It will also be tasked with publishing guidance on local deficiencies within 12 months of the Bill being signed into law.

The Minister will be able to change these criteria following a review by the Central Bank – triggers for such a review will be census data, a reduction of at least 15% in the demand for cash over a calendar year, or a request from the Minister.  The Central Bank may also carry out a review on its own initiative.

Responsibility for Compliance

Responsibility for compliance with access to cash requirements will rest with designated entities (banks whose market share of current/payment accounts and share of household deposits in Ireland exceeds a prescribed proportion to be set by the Minister).  The share in each case will be somewhere between 5% and 15%. Based on those thresholds, the three main Irish retail banks will be the initial designated entities.

The Central Bank will have specific monitoring and enforcement rights – failure to comply with a direction to address a breach/local deficiency will be a prescribed contravention under the Central Bank’s Administrative Sanctions Procedure.

Access Fees

The Minister will be empowered to make regulations banning or capping access fees for withdrawals from Irish ATMs by individuals and SMEs with EU bank accounts. While unusual in Ireland (and separate from day-to-day bank charges) access fees are flat fees to make ATM withdrawals (irrespective of the amount of the withdrawal).

ATM Operators and Cash-in-Transit Firms

The Bill provides for a Central Bank registration framework for ATM operators and cash-in-transit firms (CITs).  This aligns with the current proposal for a revised EU payment services framework (PSD3) which also contemplates a registration system for ATM operators.

Under the Bill, ATM operators and CITs would be subject to a registration regime as part of which information-provision will be key.  The Central Bank will also have power to make regulations in respect of reporting and service standards for ATM operators.

While registration obligations and requirements to provide additional information on request will be applied to ATM operators and CITs, the Department of Finance previously noted that these requirements should not operate to disincentivise those entities from continuing to operate in Ireland.

There will be a transitional period – existing entities will be deemed to have registered provided that they then apply to register within 3 months of the relevant section being commenced.

2024 will be a busy year for developments in the payments space, with the National Payments Strategy expected shortly, and trilogue negotiations between the European Parliament and Council of the EU expected to begin towards the end of the year on PSD 3 (the proposed new EU payment services framework, which is focused on mitigating payment fraud (reflecting growing concerns about the levels of authorised push payment fraud), further levelling the playing field between banks and non-banks, and improving the functioning of open banking).  Please get in touch with your usual contact in our Financial Regulation Group to discuss any of the above matters in more detail.