The banking sector is being warned it faces penalties if it does not secure free access to cash for the UK population, including businesses, following waves of branch closures over more than a decade.
Hours after Sky News revealed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was to be given powers to fine banks that fail to provide free access to cash, the Treasury confirmed the guidelines the industry was expected to follow.
The legal framework showed that no person or business should be further than three miles away from facilities to withdraw or deposit cash including a cash machine, otherwise known as an ATM.
It also pledged that no customers should face additional or hidden charges for the services and that if a facility is being withdrawn, a replacement should be put in place before the closure takes place.
The move follows a backlash against the disappearance of physical banking sites with charities, MPs and consumer groups long arguing the vulnerable, particularly the elderly, are being denied face-to-face banking services in their communities.
The issue has dogged the sector since the financial crisis of 2008 when branch closures, as part of cost-cutting measures, gathered pace.
The industry has, in more recent times, blamed the surging use of digital banking services by consumers and businesses for culls to branch numbers.
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It argues that many are not being used enough to make them financially viable.
Figures released last month by the Unite union suggested more than 6,000 branches had been lost since 2015 alone, with other sites or post offices taking up the slack.
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Image: The Brixham Banking Hub. Pic: HMT
Industry statistics showed there were 51,272 cash machines in the UK last year, 78% of which were free to use.
The government placed access to deposit and withdrawal facilities under the auspices of the FCA for the first time last year.
While the regulator will be given the power to fine banks which fail to adhere to the new guidelines on access to cash, it has previously found there is little cause for immediate alarm.
Image: While 85% of transactions are made online, the government says access to cash is important for millions
Its research, published in May, showed 96.3% of the UK population currently lived within 1.24 miles of a free-to-use cash access point, with 99.8% within 3.1 miles.
The government said in its statement: “As it stands, the vast majority of people living in urban areas can access cash deposit and withdrawal services within one mile; with rural dwellers around three miles away.
“Today’s policy statement makes clear that the FCA should use its powers to maintain this level of coverage while recognising that needs may differ by location and change over time.”
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith, added: “Whilst the growing choice and convenience of digital payments is great, cash has an important and continuing role to play.
“That’s why we are taking action to protect access to cash in law and laying out that this means fee-free withdrawals and the availability of cash facilities within a reasonable distance.
“People shouldn’t have to trek for hours to withdraw a tenner to put in someone’s birthday card – nor should businesses have to travel large distances to deposit cash takings.
“These are measures which benefit everyone who uses cash but particularly those living in rural areas, the elderly and those with disabilities.”
John Howells, the chief executive of ATM operator LINK, said the plans would complement the body’s existing commitments to ensure every high street gets free access to cash.
“The UK is not ready to become a cashless society, so it’s good to see these rules become law,” he added.
Jenny Ross, editor of Which? Money, welcomed the measures but said they needed to go further.
“The government must put in place measures which ensure those who want to withdraw or deposit cash are appropriately served in their local communities.
“The Financial Conduct Authority must make use of its new powers to ensure banks meet their obligations and stand ready to direct them to address any gaps.”
A music video-streaming service whose shareholders include the U2 bassist Adam Clayton will this week announce that it has sealed a management buyout after months of talks.
Sky News understands that the assets of MagicWorks, which trades as ROXi, have been sold to a new company called FastStream Interactive (FSI), with backing from two major US-based broadcasters.
Sources said that Nasdaq-listed Sinclair and New York Stock Exchange-listed Gray Media were among the new shareholders in FSI, with the launch of new interactive TV Channels in the US expected to take place shortly.
The deal, which has involved raising millions of pounds of new equity from new and existing investors, has resulted in previous creditors of the business being repaid in full, according to the sources.
Its search for funding from the US was seen as vital because of the programme to roll out its FastScreen technology.
Founded in 2014, ROXi described itself as the world’s first ‘made-for-television’ service, allowing viewers to stream millions of songs and download hundreds of thousands of karaoke tracks.
Its broadcast channels allow viewers to skip through content in which they have no interest.
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Simon Cowell, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams were among the prominent music industry figures who had previously been named as ROXi investors.
Financiers including Guy Hands and Jim Mellon are said to be part of the new ownership structure.
In response to an enquiry from Sky News, Rob Lewis, FSI chief executive, said: “The new technology, FastStream, will revolutionise broadcast TV.
“For the first time in history, consumers tuning into a normal TV channel will find they automatically start at the beginning of the programme, and that they are able to skip, pause or search, even though they are watching normal broadcast TV”.
Begbies Traynor Group, the professional services firm, and Rockefeller Capital Management advised on the process.
Quintessentially, the luxury concierge service founded by the Queen’s nephew, is in talks to find a buyer months after it warned of “material uncertainty” over its future.
Sky News has learned that the company, which was set up by Sir Ben Elliot and his business partners in 1999, is working with advisers on a process aimed at finding a new owner or investors.
City sources said this weekend that Quintessentially was already in discussions with prospective buyers and was anticipating receipt of a number of firm offers.
Sir Ben, the former Conservative Party co-chairman under Boris Johnson, owns a significant minority stake in the company.
The Quintessentially group operates a number of businesses, although its core activity remains the provision of lifestyle support to high net worth individuals including celebrities, royalty, and leading businesspeople.
It also counts major companies among its clients and offers services such as organising private jet flights and performances by top musicians.
The sale process is being overseen by a firm called Beyond, although further details, including the price that the business might fetch, were unclear on Saturday.
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One insider said parties who had been contacted by Beyond were being offered the option to buy a controlling interest in Quintessentially.
This could be implemented through a combination of the repayment of outstanding loans, an injection of new funding into the business, and the purchase of existing shareholders’ interests, they added.
Quintessentially’s founders, including Sir Ben, are thought to be keen to retain an equity interest in the company after any deal.
In January 2022, newspaper reports suggested that Quintessentially had been put up for sale with a valuation of £140m.
Deloitte, the accountancy firm, was charged with finding a buyer at the time but a transaction failed to materialise.
Sir Ben, who was knighted in Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list, turned to one of Quintessentially’s shareholders for financial support during the pandemic.
World Fuel Services, an energy and aviation services company, is owed £15.5m as well as £3.5m in accrued interest, according to one person close to the process.
The loan is said to include a warrant to convert it into equity upon repayment.
Quintessentially does not disclose the number or identities of many of its clients, although it said in annual accounts filed at Companies House in January that it had increased turnover to £29.6m in the year to 30 April 2024.
The accounts suggested the company was seeing growth in demand from clients internationally.
“During the last year, we have not only renewed important corporate contracts like Mastercard, but have also expanded by adding new corporate clients like Swiss4 in the UK, R360 in India, and Visa in the Middle East and South America,” they said.
In its experiences and events division, it won a contract to work with the Red Sea Film Festival and to provide corporate concierge services to the Saudi Premier League.
It added that Allianz, the German insurer, BMW, and South African lender Standard Bank were among other clients with which it had signed contracts.
The accounts included the warning of a “risk that the pace and level at which business returns could be materially less than forecast, requiring the group and company to obtain external funding which may not be forthcoming and therefore this creates material uncertainty that may cast ultimately cast doubt about the … ability to continue as a going concern”.
This weekend, a Quintessentially spokesman declined to comment on the sale process.
Adele, the Grammy award-winning artist, has joined the list of music superstars investing in Audoo, a music technology company which helps artists to receive fairer royalty payments.
Sky News has learnt that the British musician and Adam Clayton, the U2 bassist, have injected money into Audoo as part of a £7m funding round.
The pair join Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus as shareholders in the company.
Changes to Audoo’s share register were filed at Companies House in recent days.
Audoo, which was established by former musician Ryan Edwards, is trying to address the perennial issue of public performance royalties, in order to ensure musicians are rewarded when their work is played in public venues.
Mr Edwards is reported to have been motivated to set up the company after hearing his own music played at football stadia and in bars, without any payment for it.
Estimates suggest that artists lose out on billions of dollars of unaccounted royalties each year.
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London-based Audoo uses a monitoring device – which it calls an Audio Meter – to recognise songs played in public venues, and which is said to have a 99% success rate.
It has struck what it describes as industry-first partnerships with organisations including the music licensing company PPL/PRS to track and report songs played in public performance locations such as cafes, hair salons, shops and gyms.
“At Audoo, we’re incredibly proud of the continued support we’re receiving as we work to make music royalties fairer and more transparent for artists and rights-holders around the world through our pioneering technology,” Mr Edwards told Sky News in a statement on Friday.
“We have successfully reached £7m in our latest funding round.
“This funding marks a pivotal moment for Audoo as we focus on our growth in North America and across Europe, bringing us closer to our mission of revolutionising the global royalty landscape.”
Sources said the new capital would be used partly to finance Audoo’s growth in the US.
The latest funding round takes the total amount of money raised by the company since its launch to more than $30m.
Mr Edwards has spoken of his desire to establish a major presence in Europe and the US because of their status as the world’s biggest recorded music markets.
Adele’s management company did not respond to an enquiry from Sky News.