3% of the British Public Never Use Cash

The PaymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More Choice Alliance, an organisation that campaigns for the UK public to have the legal right to spend their cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More when and where they choose to do so, shared new results from YouGov revealing how very strongly the public disagrees with the relentless efforts of some major businesses to push the UK towards becoming a cashless society.

YouGov’s survey conducted last week revealed:

• Only 3% of the British public NEVER use cash.
• Only 12% of people in Britain want the UK to become a cashless society, and 69% oppose it.
• A massive majority (71%) would support making it a legal requirement for British businesses to accept cash. Only 7% oppose this idea.

This very latest measurement of UK public opinion underlines how committed the majority of the public are to cash. The fact that with all the alternatives available to them only 3% report that they NEVER use cash is a huge vote of support for the British £ and what it stands for in the minds of the British public.

It is time for all businesses that are seemingly pushing to make the UK a so-called “cashless society” to put the British public first. Such businesses need to respect the firmly expressed preferences of the British public, who are their customers. In short, they must forget “cashless” and fully commit to ensuring cash always has a place as a UK Payment Choice.

The fact that as many as 71% of people support the idea of a new law to make accepting cash a legal requirement of doing business shows just how widely people in the UK are unhappy with any move towards a “cashless” society. Whether it is convenience, freedom of choice, managing their spending or the understandable desire not to have their lives completely monitored and controlled that motivates them, it is absolutely clear the public want to be able to use their cash when and where they choose to do so.

Political parties with an eye on the next General Election would be wise to wake up to this major public concern. Payment Choice is a vote-winner; “cashless” quite definitely is not.

Of course, Payment Choice need not become an election issue. The simplest way of avoiding this is for the current government to ensure a Payment Choice Act is passed in 2023. The Payment Choice Alliance and, most importantly, the British public, would strongly welcome this outcome.

– Ron Delnevo, Chairman of the Payment Choice Alliance.

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