Snow effect: Cash machines running out of money

LONDON - Heavy snowfall is hampering banking facilities in Britain as cash machines of several leading banks are running out of money ahead of the busy shopping weekend, a media report said Saturday.

The heaviest snowfall for 20 years has prevented security vans carrying cash from making deliveries to their regular destinations, The Telegraph reported.

High street bank HSBC confirmed Friday that snow was causing problems for some of its drivers.

It reported that seven percent of its cash machines were closed Friday and that if levels dropped any further, it would reach “unacceptable levels”.

It had a total of 93 percent of its 3,500 ATMs open Friday, two percent lower than normal, with some closures blamed on the bad weather.

Barclays, a leading bank, said more branches than usual had been forced to close this week, with numbers reaching up to 60 out of its total network of almost 1,700.

It also said there were “always a handful” of ATMs which ran out of money, regardless of the weather. It reported no additional problems.

Sandra Quinn, of the Payments Council, said: “Normally the first Friday in December is one of the busiest days of the year for taking cash out as people need money for Christmas shopping.

“But a lot less transactions are being made as people are not going out and spending cash in the numbers that we would normally see at this time of year. People are staying indoors. People are also less reliant on cash than before.”