A NEW report has revealed that during the pandemic Redditch has lost a total of 15 cash machines.

The report by UK merchant payment provider, Dojo, part of the Paymentsense brand, has revealed the extent to which Britain’s high streets are losing their ATM’s and which UK cities are the most affected.

It found that during the pandemic, Redditch has lost 15 ATM's, meaning there are now 67 available to the residents, a decline of 18.29 per cent.

The report found that between January 2019 and September 2020 the number of cash machines in Britain dropped from 62,967 to 55,674, a decrease of 7,293, with an average of over 340 machines disappearing from high streets every month.

Although the elderly and those on low incomes are the most reliant on ATM technology, the number of free to use machines is dropping at a faster rate than those which charge a usage fee; meaning more people are left with less choice of where to go to take out their money.

Jon Knott, Head of Customer Insight at Dojo said: "During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, the makeup of the great British high-street has changed enormously.

"While it’s long been evolving in the face of the rising of the digital marketplace, coronavirus has reaffirmed the dominance of financial technologies.

"As we’ve seen already in the press, the contactless limit could increase once again from £45 to £100, allowing people more convenience to tap for their in-store purchases. With more and more people opting for Apple and Google Pay which has no capped limit for contactless payments, consumers are welcoming the efficiency and speed at which they can purchase larger value products and services.

"It is no surprise then, in our digitised economy, that the use of cash is decreasing, making ATM's redundant.“