‘A fundamental right': UK high street chains and restaurants challenged over refusal to accept cash

The Guardian

16-03-2025

Major high street chains and restaurants, including Gail's bakery, Itsu and Zizzi, are being challenged by campaigners over their refusal to accept cash after a jump in consumers turning to notes and coins for daily spending.
Following a steady decline in cash payments over the last decade, consumer groups says the cost of living crisis has seen more people turning to the traditional payment method for day-to-day spending. In 2023, 1.5 million adults in the UK were using cash for daily spending, a four-year high.
Ron Delnevo, chair of the Payment Choice Alliance, which campaigns for the long-term future of cash services, said it was 'completely unacceptable' that some stores were rejecting cash. The alliance wants new laws similar to those in some other countries requiring organisations and retailers to accept cash.
'The vast majority of the public want cash to be honoured as a payment,' he said. 'These businesses are letting down the public.' Delnevo said a survey conducted by YouGov in June 2023 on behalf of the alliance revealed that 71% of British adults would support a legal requirement for businesses to accept cash.
Gail's, which has more than 150 stores, says going cashless has 'environmental benefits' in eliminating the need for cash collection and delivery. Itsu, which promotes 'affordable, nutritious food' rolled out cashless payments after a successful trial, and Zizzi says it only accepts card and contactless payments for the 'smoothest and fastest' payment experience.
The coffee and bakery chain Pret a Manger has piloted cashless outlets but still accepts cash in most of its 490 shops in the UK. It found the cashless service was faster but decided against a wider roll-out in favour of customer choice.
The Treasury select committee is expected to report shortly on its inquiry into whether there is any need to regulate or mandate the acceptance of cash. An early day motion tabled in parliament last month calls for the government to implement legislation to require all businesses in the UK to accept cash, but ministers have said they have no plans to mandate the acceptance of cash.
The motion highlights concerns at the 'rapidly increasing trend for UK businesses, local authorities and leisure facilities, including those supported by taxpayer funding, to refuse to accept cash for payments'. Car parks, train buffets and leisure centres are among the services that have gone cashless.
Kate Osborne, the Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, who has signed the early day motion, said: 'It is a fundamental right that people should be able to use cash as a legal tender. When you are trying to budget, particularly if you are on a low income, cash is a simple way of doing it. I understand that many people are not using cash much of the time, but there should be choice for all.
'We are seeing more and more retailers offering card-only payments, and it causes problems in constituencies like mine where we've got a high number of people who are digitally excluded or may choose not to do electronic banking.' Osborne said that cash can be more convenient. 'I've been on trains before and the system [for the buffet] has gone down and they can't take cash,' she said. 'You could be on a train for three or four hours, and you can't even buy a cup of tea.'
Use of cash has fallen dramatically in the last decade, from more than half of payments in 2009 to about 12% in 2023. Yet it is still the second most frequently used method of payment in the UK after debit card.
Cash accounted for 6bn payments in 2023, with the number of people who mainly use cash rising from about 900,000 in 2022 to 1.5m in 2023, according to figures from the trade association UK Finance.
Ajay Banga, now president of the World Bank, revealed the roadmap of the finance industry in 2017 when, as chief executive of Mastercard, he stated in an interview: 'My enemy is cash.' The international finance industry now faces resistance over its eagerness for cashless transactions.
Sweden has been at the forefront of countries moving towards a cashless society, with the New York Times reporting in 2018 that about 4,000 Swedes had implanted microchips in their hands to pay for travel or food, or enter keyless offices. Mounting cyber crime and the rising threat from Russia have led to a rethink, with residents now advised to keep enough cash at home for at least one week.
While cash can help provide resilience in the event of an attack or collapse in the financial system, many consumers also turn to coins and notes for budgeting. A system known as 'cash stuffing' – using envelopes for different categories of spending – has racked up hundreds of millions of views on TikTok, but security experts advise against keeping large amounts of cash at home.
May Fairweather, a financial coach and executive director at the nonprofit organisation Talk About Money, said the financial industry wanted 'frictionless' purchases because it made it easier for people to spend money.
'Cash adds friction, and that can be a good thing,' she said. 'It gives people time to think and time to make proper decisions.' She also said thatnotes and coins remind people trying to budget that money is 'finite'.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says that about 3 million people continue to rely on cash, even as digital payments become more popular. It introduced rules last September requiring banks and building societies to ensure reasonable access to cash withdrawal and deposit services.
A Treasury spokesperson said: 'We recognise that cash continues to be used by millions across the UK. While we have no plans to mandate cash acceptance, individual businesses can decide which payment methods they accept, and new rules introduced by the FCA support those that do want to continue accepting cash by enabling business to make deposits.'
Gail's, Itsu and Zizzi have been contacted for comment.