2025 has so far been the year of cash! Earlier this year, a study by Nationwide Building Society showed that case usage in the UK has risen for the third year in a row. And now, thanks to a recent Treasury Committee Report into cash acceptance, momentum is growing to make cash acceptance mandatory across the UK.
The new report not only advised MPs to seriously consider making cash acceptance mandatory for all shops and services across the UK, but also recommended that the government vastly improve its monitoring of the ongoing ‘access to cash’ issue.
Currently, UK businesses and organisations can choose which payment methods they accept, and in recent years, some businesses have enforced ‘card-only’ payments on their customers.
But this move has been criticised by the committee, who argue that this would create a poverty premium for consumers who want/choose to use cash, as well as for those from vulnerable groups like the elderly and those with learning difficulties who rely on using cash. Campaigners are now calling for MPs to listen and for cash acceptance to be enforced by the law in the UK.
This growing importance of cash is also being taken seriously by our European neighbours. Shops and businesses in the European Union are generally obliged to accept cash if people want to pay using it, and public authorities and service providers must also accept cash. Even countries like Sweden and the Netherlands, who famously declared a move towards going cashless a decade ago have done a U-turn earlier this year, urging their residents to return to using physical cash, driven by concerns about the resilience of the digital payments infrastructure and the rising threat of cyber-attacks.
The Real Cost of Going Cashless
Whether or not mandatory cash acceptance comes about in the coming months or years, businesses that choose to go cashless in the meantime are still putting themselves at risk without perhaps realising the consequences of their actions.
Becoming ‘card-only’ may seem an attractive option for many UK businesses, but in fact, it could cause real harm. Not only are businesses alienating certain sectors of society and causing upset amongst loyal customers who simply want the choice of using cash, but businesses also face a number of hidden issues by going cashless.
- Rising card fees – Since Brexit, the amount card issuing companies can charged has become uncapped, meaning fees are constantly rising and the costs of processing card transactions every day will continue to rise. Cash does not incur these kinds of fees, and while cash processing isn’t cost-free, it can be significantly reduced by using intelligent cash handling solutions, such as those provided by industry-leaders Volumatic.
- Cyber-attacks – These are becoming more and more frequent, putting all businesses at risk. In 2023 alone, there were 2,365 cyberattacks affecting over 343 million victims, with data breaches increasing by 72% since 2021. As more financial activity moves online, these risks will only grow. Cyber-attacks can stop businesses from being able to take card payments for prolonged periods and can infiltrate customer data, which is a huge cost to bear for businesses and consumers alike.
- Power outages and system failures – Power outages and system breakdowns leave digital payment systems unusable, leaving consumers and businesses without alternatives if cash is no longer accepted.
- Privacy and Autonomy at Risk – All digital transactions create a data trail that can be traced, exposing everyone’s financial privacy. Cash transactions provide a level of anonymity and personal autonomy that digital payments simply cannot match.
Access to Cash and Banking Hubs
One of the main concerns from businesses who have chosen to or are considering going cashless is the difficulty in accessing and depositing cash, with many banks closing local branches over recent years – something that the Access to Cash Review has been working on improving
The main and ongoing objective of the Access to Cash Review is to ensure that access to cash for those in the UK remains effective and inclusive and meets consumer and business needs. It has been fundamental in protecting businesses’ and consumers’ right to use and have proper access to cash, prompting the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to introduce new rules safeguarding access to cash in September 2024.
With past FCA research citing that over 3 million adults in the UK still use cash for everyday payments, the new rules mean that banks and building societies must review whether any changes they make to local services – such as closing branches or cash machines – leave local communities lacking ways to take out or pay in cash. If there are, banks and building societies will then need to deliver additional cash services to meet the local area’s needs – whether it be cash machines, banking hubs, deposit ATMs or Post Office facilities.
This has sparked a flurry of new banking hubs across the UK, with many more to follow. The Treasury Committee also supports this need and has said the government is committed to seeing 350 banking hubs in place in the coming years, giving better access to cash for everyone.
Giving Payment Choice a Chance
The overwhelming benefits of retaining cash in our payment landscape cannot – and should not – be ignored. Professor Jay Zagorski spoke recently at the ESTA 50th anniversary conference in Brussels and argued that “cash remains essential for the wellbeing of our societies and stands as a pillar of privacy and social inclusion.”
Many industry experts agree, with cash handling experts Volumatic having previously published a white paper – Consumers Demand Payment Choice – which revealed the desire by the majority of consumers to retain payment choice and continue to be able to use both cash and digital payments as and when they wanted.
Volumatic MD James Harris said: “While digital payments are undoubtedly convenient, cash remains one of the most resilient payment methods we have and its importance should not be underestimated. Cash ensures privacy and inclusion, and it costs a fraction of the amount to process, especially for smaller businesses.
“Volumatic are more than happy to support businesses in realising the benefits of accepting cash and can help them make things even easier by recommending the CCi, a full end-to-end cash management solution to make their processes more secure, more efficient and more cost-effective.”
The message is simple. Cash should not be ignored or underestimated, and neither should financial inclusion for all. Going cashless would fundamentally change our payment landscape. It is essential that the government and business owners collectively ensure that the convenience of some doesn’t come at the expense of others. Additionally, the pursuit of perceived efficiency shouldn’t undermine the resilience, privacy, and inclusivity that cash ultimately provides.
