UK

Imagine a week without cards or apps—only cash. Would you spend less, think harder, or just get frustrated? A Guardian journalist did just that, revealing valuable insights about how cash shapes our spending, emotions, and financial health.

Elsewhere on the Web provides updates and links to articles related to cash, money and payments curated on the web. This month the focus is on declining cash usage for payments and the growing threats that this poses to the economy and society.

Post-pandemic, UK cash withdrawals have stabilized, but Nationwide Building Society saw a 10% increase in ATM usage in 2024. This rise is due to bank branch closures and the cost of living crisis, pushing more people to budget with cash. Nationwide's extensive branch network supports this trend. The British Retail Consortium reports a two-year increase in cash transactions, highlighting cash's importance in budgeting despite the prevalence of card payments.

The LINK scheme processes an average of 4 million cash withdrawals and balance enquiries every day and ATMs account for around 90% of cash acquisition in the UK. Here’s five things you ought to know about LINK from their just published annual report.

Elsewhere on the Web provides updates and links to articles related to cash, money and payments curated on the web.

Digital payments become a nightmare after losing your mobile phone, as I learned from two robberies in London last year.

Proposals from the financial services watchdog to protect and widen cash access are "a good start but could go further" argues the Federation of Small Businesses. Cash infrastructure should be considered a public good.

Digital payments become a nightmare after losing your mobile phone, as I learned from two robberies in London last year. 

For the first time in a decade, U.K. cash payments at the point of sale have increased as consumers turn to cash to better manage their budget during the cost-of-living crisis.

Latest YouGov findings reveal 71% of the British public would support making it a legal requirement for businesses to accept cash.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill 2002 is expected to gain Royal Assent –and therefore become law- in early summer 2023. The Bill includes measures impacting the U.K.'s wholesale cash distribution.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill 2002 would allow HM Treasury to designate firms to be subject to oversight to ensure the continued provision of cash services. The Bill would also give the Bank of England powers to oversee the wholesale cash industry.