A new report by the UK’s ATM network, LINK, has shown that cash is still alive and well and that cash acceptance is still prevalent on the UK high street.
The report, entitled ‘Keeping Choice Alive: Measuring Cash Acceptance on the UK High Street,’ was commissioned by LINK’s independent consumer council and also supported by the Post Office, PayPoint and the Federation of Small Businesses.
The research highlights how cash is still critical to millions of people in the UK, and how cash has consistently retained its value and longevity despite the plethora of other ways to pay that exist in modern society.
The key points from their survey of 1,116 high street SME’s across the UK are:
- 77% of small- to medium-sized retailers accept cash
- 46% of in-person transactions are made in cash
- Cash is used predominantly in establishments such as independent retailers, cafes and pubs, small convenience stores and laundrettes
- For many SMEs, cash supports financial control and is a trusted and resilient payment option
- Those businesses that accept cash appreciate the benefits that it brings, namely avoiding card fees, the liquidity of cash and the speed of cash transactions
- Among the businesses that accept cash, nearly half actively encourage its use
- 53% of businesses support mandating cash acceptance, with the remainder wanting the Government to encourage digital payment options, showing a desire to offer customers payment choice
Helping retailers accept cash
The LINK report also explores the pressure faced by retailers when choosing what payment methods to accept.
Many of the retailers surveyed would want to accept cash in an ideal world, but some of them cited the difficulties they face in doing so – for example:
- The cost of cash handling
- Counterfeit notes
- Security concerns
- Easier bookkeeping and accounting
- A lack of deposit facilities and closures of local bank branches
How Volumatic can help
While these are very valid concerns, they can all be very easily overcome with the help of a cash handling provider, such as Volumatic.
Having led innovation in cash handling for over 50 years, Volumatic are perfectly placed to help SME’s with their cash handling requirements, and already works with the likes of Tesco, Co-op, Nisa and SPAR to help them handle cash with ease, become more efficient, more secure and save them money.
Cash handling doesn’t have to be expensive, and the return on investment for all the companies Volumatic works with has been clear to see within a very short time.
Accepting cash – and keeping your customers happy by giving them more choice – is easy with Volumatic’s range of cash handling solutions.
Fraud/counterfeit prevention can be easily remedied by Volumatic’s forgery detectors, including the BV20 SD and the BV30 SD – both are Bank of England tested, with the BV30 SD meeting the BoE’s Gold Standard Framework, meaning it can eliminate all known forgeries from entering your business, plus they are compact enough to sit at your POS discreetly.
For those small to medium-sized businesses concerned about cash security, look no further than our range of CounterCache deposit devices. From basic devices that keep your cash stored securely and out of sight at POS to our all-in-one intelligent deposit device, the CCi, we’ve got you covered.
Many Volumatic products come with a range of software solutions that make reporting and accounting quick and easy. Choose our CashView Enterprise cash management software to support your CCi devices, and you’ll be kept informed in real time with management and banking reports across your entire estate of till points. And even with our simpler solutions, like our CountEasy money counting scales, you can use our CountEasy Connect software to simply transfer your daily counts to a spreadsheet to make your accounting easier.
Local bank branch closures have widely affected both businesses and customers wanting to make cash deposits over recent years, making it extremely difficult for many, particularly in rural areas. But with the support of the Government and the UK Banking Industry, Cash Access UK has introduced many banking hubs across the UK, and as of 2026 there are over 220 banking hubs, operated by the Post Office, giving people the vital banking services they need, with another 130 due to open in the next few years, making it easier for everyone to bank cash takings both now and in the future.
Volumatic Managing Director James Harris said: “Cash handling isn’t expensive, and we’re here to prove that. Many of our low-cost solutions can make a massive difference to small businesses, and our more advanced solutions, like the CCi, have been proven to reduce cash handling costs by up to 75%, with a return on investment seen in a matter of months.”
“What we’d ask is when considering the payment methods your business are happy to accept, think about the impact on your customer base and contact us to see how we can help reduce your cash handling costs, and you might be surprised at how easy our solutions make things and how much money we can save you.”
The LINK survey is a timely reminder that cash still plays an important part in the UK’s payment infrastructure, and with the help of intelligent cash handling solutions, more SME’s will have the opportunity to accept cash, avoid costly card/bank fees and give their customers the range of payment choice they want and deserve.
