Banks which do not give customers 'reasonable' access to cash and ATMs will face 'very significant fines', the Finance Minister has said.
The Government is launching new Access to Cash laws to keep physical money in the economy.
There will also have to be a certain number of ATMs per 100,000 people and within 10km of where they live, putting an onus on banks to keep them operating.
Under the proposals supermarkets and pharmacies will have to accept cash - as medicine and groceries are considered essential services.
It comes as new figures show the use of physical cash has fallen from €20 billion before the pandemic to €13.5 billion in 2022.
Minister Michael McGrath told Newstalk Breakfast banks will face significant fines for breaching the new regulations.
"In the event of a breach and a formal sanction being taken by the Central Bank, then you're into the administrative sanctions regime," he said.
"You can ultimately have very significant financial fines.
"I wouldn't anticipate us getting to that point; the banks have participated in this process, they know it's a priority for Government.
A Bank of Ireland ATM on Dublin's Stephen's Green, 30-10-15. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ieMinister McGrath said the country has been divided into eight regions, based on EU statistics, for ATM locations.
"We are putting in place a requirement in relation to the number of ATMs per 100,000 population," he said.
"Secondly the percentage of the population in each region that must be within 10km of an ATM.
"It may not necessarily be on their doorstep, but they [will] have reasonable access to an ATM machine".
'Financial exclusion'
Minister McGrath said there were concerns cash would further disappear without Government intervention.
"I think we can all accept that the trend of digitalisation of payments will continue," he said.
"It accelerated during COVID, where we saw a very significant reduction in the use of cash.
"Access to cash remains important for many people in society, I think it helps us to avoid the risk of financial exclusion.
"My concern was that in the absence of an intervention by Government we would see more and more ATM machines being withdrawn from around the country".
'Ability to use cash'
Minister McGrath said the changes will help keep the level of cash in the economy at the same levels as the end of 2022.
"We will now, for the first time, regulate ATM operators [and] cash-in-transit providers to ensure that experience we've all had of going to a second or third ATM before we find one working... that those issues are kept to an absolute minimum," he said.
"Allied to all of this then, in parallel, we are developing a national payment strategy... which is your ability to use cash."
Minister McGrath said this will deal with whether esential shops and services "should be obliged" to take cash.
He said that process is open to public consultation until February 14th.
Minister McGrath added that people can also raise the issue of a 'local deficiency' with the Central Bank, if they feel they don't have access to an ATM in their community.
