LOWER-INCOME households and older people will be hardest hit by closures of bank branches and cash machines, preventing free access to their money, Which? has warned.

More than three-quarters of consumers in the two lowest household income groups rely on cash the most, while a quarter of them never make card payments, the consumer group’s researchers found.

Four in five retirees rely on cash, using it at least two to three times a week, last month’s survey last month of 2,076 adults found.

A row broke out earlier this year over the future funding of cash machines when the national network Link announced that it was funding a review into how the shift from cash to digital payments was affecting people and small businesses.

Which? said the equivalent of 250 free-to-use cashpoints are closing every month despite Link’s “financial inclusion programme.”

It is calling for the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to review the programme and for the government to place a statutory duty on the regulator to monitor and protect access to cash.

Which? Money spokesman Gareth Shaw said: “Clearly, Link’s commitment to protect access to cash in vulnerable communities is failing.”