A Transition to a Digital Society

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 20 March 2019.

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Photo of Russell George Russell George Conservative 2:11, 20 March 2019

Thank you for your answer, Deputy Minister. The consumer group Which? has recently highlighted the issue of access to cash across Wales and has outlined that Wales lost 3 per cent of its free cash point network between just July and November of last year. And as we transition towards an increasing digital society, people in my rural constituency are being, I feel, left behind on that journey—no more so than in Machynlleth, for example, where we saw the last bank close last year and most of its cash points with it. There now remain two cash points—one inside the Co-op and one inside the local Spar. So, access to cash, I would say, is still absolutely necessary for the thousands of tourists that visit mid Wales each year, and I wonder what action the Welsh Government can take to ensure that we manage these changes to a digital society in a sustainable way? And what can be done by Welsh Government, alongside others as well, I accept, to intervene when it is necessary to protect cash as a payment method as well?