Cash use to be tracked amid ‘two-tier society' fears
Threadneedle Street officials are set to intervene after MPs warned more checks were needed to ensure people can still pay with cash in public places, such as coffee shops, leisure centres and on public transport.
There are currently no legal requirements in the UK for businesses or organisations to accept cash, fuelling fears that pensioners and people with disabilities could be shut out.
Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury select committee, welcomed the move by the Bank and said it was a 'positive first step'.
It comes after the committee revealed earlier this year that vulnerable groups were having to pay higher prices for essential goods amid an increase in the number of shops not accepting cash.
However, it also said there were significant obstacles in assessing the true level of cash acceptance across the UK.
A study by Link, the UK's cash machine network, in 2024 found that half of those surveyed had been to a business or organisation in the last eight weeks that did not accept cash or discouraged cash use. Yet 98pc of small businesses said they accepted cash when polled by Savanta.
A lack of consistent evidence makes it challenging for the Government to determine how widespread the issue of cash acceptance is in the UK.
There are concerns that a decline in cash acceptance will lead to the exclusion of vulnerable groups such as the elderly, people with learning disabilities, and domestic abuse victims.
Dame Meg said that the Government 'consistently agrees' with the Treasury committee's view 'that action needs to be taken to avoid financially excluding vulnerable groups'.
In response to the committee's findings, Emma Reynolds, the economic secretary to the Treasury, said: 'Ensuring individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need is a key priority for the Government.'
The Treasury is due to publish a financial inclusion strategy later this year, 'which will examine the barriers consumers face to accessing products and what more industry and government can do to support them'.
ATM decline
When appearing before the Treasury committee in January, Ms Reynolds said the Government had 'no plans to regulate businesses, big or small, to compel them to accept cash'.
Yet the committee has argued that ministers may have to legally mandate cash acceptance in the future if a 'two-tier society' arises.
Worries of a decline in cash acceptance have emerged alongside a significant fall in the number of free ATMs.
The number of cash machines in the UK fell by 5pc year-on-year to 46,182 in 2024, according to Link.
Since the pandemic, there has been a rise in the number of businesses that call themselves cash-free, with others stating that they prefer customers to accept card or contactless payments.
Over the last decade, there has also been a significant decline in the number of cash transactions.
Cash accounted for just over half of all payments in 2013, but that fell to 12pc in 2023 as the popularity of card and digital payments increased.
Blackouts in Spain and Portugal earlier this year prevented the public from making card payments.
The committee highlighted the importance of physical cash in emergency situations, warning that alternatives must be in place in the event of a major technological failure or a state-sponsored cyber attack.
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