Shoppers will be able to withdraw cash in more than 2,000 stores across the UK without having to buy anything or pay a fee

The 'Cashback Without Purchase' initiative is already live in around 1,000 stores, but it's being rolled out to a further 1,000 shops by the end of the year. Cash machine network LINK and card payment processor PayPoint are behind the scheme. 

It comes amid concerns over the decline of free-to-use ATMs and bank branch closures, which may leave vulnerable consumers without access to cash. Only this week TSB, for example, announced the closure of 70 branches next year, while 41 Lloyds Bank branches and seven Halifax branches closed in October.

MoneySavingExpert.com founder, Martin Lewis, has previously given evidence to the House of Lords Liaison Committee over the risks of moving towards a cashless society. Research from the financial regulator found some 5.4 million adults in the UK rely on cash to a "great" or "very great" extent in their day-to-day lives.

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How the new cashback scheme works

Under the cashback scheme, shoppers will be able to request to withdraw anything between 1p and £50 in cash at the till, which means they won't be restricted to notes as they are when using physical ATMs.

You can use use chip and pin, contactless or Google or Apple Pay to authenticate the withdrawal and you don’t have to buy an item in store or pay a fee. The service will only work with UK current accounts and their associated debit cards for now. 

To find stores near you that offer the new service you can search 'Link Cash Locator' online or download the free LINK Cash Locator app. You can then type in a postcode or location to see which stores offer the scheme. 

Below is an example of how to search for a store or an ATM that offers 'Cashback Without Purchase'. In this case, we have searched near Dulwich in London. The orange locations indicate free cash back at the till, while the green show normal, free ATMs and the purple show ATMs that charge.