That's an interesting philosophical question, Ed. The UK privatised it's utility services so they are now run by private companies even though they provide essential basic services (transport, energy, telecommunications, water, sewage, etc). The basic methods of payment - currency in the form of notes and coins - are facilitad by government institutions (the Bank of England, the Treasury) but, now that payments have been effectively privatised in many cases by the use of electronic payments rather than cash, shouldn't this service provided by financial institutions be treated like another utility and regulated with minimum service levels in a similar way (and that should include in-person banking facilities and access to ATMs, etc)? Of course, the institution expected to provide banking hubs - effectively the bank of last resort - is the Post Office; a government owned company.
Michael Ixer ● 651d