1 The cash landscape in the UK
Our inquiry
1. The acceptance of physical currency in the UK is not currently specified in legislation. UK businesses and organisations can therefore choose which payment methods they accept.1
2. Our predecessor’s Sub-Committee last looked at the topic of physical cash in January 2024, to examine the regulatory regime on access to cash, which at that time was being implemented. In November 2024 we decided to take a broader look at the topic and consider the acceptance of cash. We held three evidence sessions between December 2024 and January 2025, with representatives of charities, with representatives of businesses and a union, and with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds MP. We also held two roundtable sessions in January 2025, one with people who have lived experience of relying on physical cash, and one with victim-survivors of economic abuse. We would like to thank the many individuals and organisations who sent us written evidence and gave oral evidence, as well as the people who participated in our roundtable events.
Current Regulation
3. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA) provided financial services regulators with enhanced rule-making powers to safeguard access to cash for consumers and wholesale cash distribution for businesses.2 The Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) was given responsibility for the former and the Bank of England (the Bank) the latter.3
4. The scope of the regulations was strictly limited to maintaining access to cash, rather than the acceptance of cash. The FCA’s consultation paper made it clear that the acceptance of cash was outside the scope of regulation:
This consultation does not look at the acceptance or non-acceptance of cash by retailers. We do not have powers to require retailers to accept cash as payment for goods or services. The existing law allows retailers to decide whether to accept cash or to only accept digital payments. However, our proposed approach will aim to ensure SMEs [Small and Medium Sized Enterprises] have sufficient access to cash deposit facilities, helping ensure that those retailers who do wish to accept cash remain able to deposit cash.4
5. The FCA’s regulatory regime on cash access, implemented over the course of 2024, requires banks and building societies designated by the Government to “assess and fill gaps, or potential gaps in cash access provision that significantly impact consumers and businesses.”5 The access to cash regulations apply to 14 banks and building societies designated by the Treasury, with the ATM networks scheme operator LINK designated as scheme operator.6 The regime expands on a pre-existing voluntary initiative operated by LINK and Cash Access UK, a not-for-profit company operated by nine major retail banks.7
6. Under the new regulatory regime, the FCA introduced an expanded set of requirements for firms to “identify gaps in cash provision and assess a wider range of local needs” when responding to cash access review trigger events. After a trigger event, designated firms are required to carry out cash access reviews (see Figure 1 below). If a gap in cash access services is identified, additional services may need to be provided, such as a banking hub8 or other facilities (such as ATMs).9
7. The new regulatory regime also required firms to, following a cash access review, “promptly provide additional cash access services” with an increased focus on transparency in the assessment process.10
Figure 1: The steps regulated firms are required to take to carry out a cash access assessment
Source: Financial Conduct Authority, PS24/8: Access to cash, Chapter 3: Cash access assessment process (July 2024)
8. In April 2024 the Bank published a Code of Practice for the wholesale cash distribution industry11 requiring companies in the cash distribution system to:
- draw up, annually test and maintain a business continuity plan;12
- draw up, and maintain a business plan showing how they will run their business for at least the next two years;13
- collate and submit a variety of data to the Bank, including details of fees and charges in the wholesale cash system;14
- notify the Bank if they plan to close a cash centre (with at least six months’ notice) or exit the wholesale cash distribution market entirely (with at least a years’ notice) with additional mandatory review periods for closure or exit.15
Regulatory impact
9. Some organisations welcomed the access to cash regulations. The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) told us that stores “play a vital role in ensuring cash access within communities” and it was therefore supportive of regulatory interventions aimed at safeguarding access to cash.16
10. Age UK noted many of the difficulties and increased costs small businesses experienced taking cash are down to declining retail banking infrastructure. It reported that “early indications” were that banking hubs and other pooled banking services were providing a “good (and much needed) service” and that when this new network reaches a critical mass, the case for mandating cash acceptance “becomes extremely convincing”.17
11. Financial inclusion campaign group Positive Money told us that access “to cash and cash acceptance are interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and should be considered two sides of the same coin.” It stated that “protecting both” would “create a virtuous circle, allowing businesses, consumers and wider society to continue to enjoy the benefits of cash.”18
12. We asked Ross Borkett, Banking Director, Post Office, whether the access to cash regulations required amendment. He replied that it was “a bit early” to make an assessment and that it was probably necessary to wait three to six months to understand whether the trigger events and assessments were leading to the right outcomes.19
Trends in cash usage
13. UK Finance, a financial services lobby group, highlighted a significant decline in the use of cash as a form of payment. Cash was used for 51% of all payments in 2013, but by 2023 this had fallen to 12%. UK Finance attributed this decrease to consumers increasingly preferring digital and card payments.20 The British Retail Consortium (BRC) examined payment trends among retailers in its 2024 Payments Survey. The BRC’s data showed a similar decline in cash usage (53% in 2013 down to 15% at its lowest point in 2021), although the data showed a small recovery in cash usage to 20% in 2023. The data suggested that the overall decline was driven by a move to card payments, with debit cards being used in 32% of retail payments in 2013, and 62% of payments in 2023.21 The Committee recieved other retail data on cash use trends. Figure 2 provided by the ACS also shows a shift in consumer behaviour. However, James Lowman, Chief Executive, Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), noted that it might take “a very, very long time” for the overall decline to reach the point where retailers would not accept cash (see also Chapter 3: Small and medium-sized businesses, below).22
Figure 2: Percentage of shopping baskets by payment type: Cash vs Card
Source: The Association of Convenience Stores (AOC0340)
14. G4S Cash Solutions, a cash management service that is one of four members of the Bank of England’s Note Circulation Scheme, stated that in the four years up to 2024 it had received 460 customer terminations, 59% due to customers going cashless.23 82 of those had come from three sectors: retail consumer goods, government, as well as leisure and tourism.24 It noted that “recently the cashless trend had slowed” but expected it to begin to increase again due to bank branch closures.25
Geographic variations in cash usage
15. Although cash use is declining across the UK as a whole, the rate of decline varies between nations and regions. Northern Ireland had the highest value transactions at post offices on a per capita basis between 2022 and January 2025. Wales had the highest volume of transactions per capita over the same period. Note that for Figures 5 and 6 the average number is below zero due to the data tracking whole transactions rather than individual notes or coins.
Value
Figure 3: Average value of Post Office withdrawals, per capita 2022 to 2024
Source: Post Officer Cash Tracker data provided to the Treasury Committee; Office for National Statistics, 2022 and 2023 mid-year population estimates for England (accessed 2 April 2025); Stats Wales, National level population estimates by year (accessed 2 April 2025); National Records of Scotland, 2023 and 2022 mid-year population estimates (accessed 2 April 2025); Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2022 and 2023 mid-year population estimates (accessed 2 April 2025); Treasury Committee calculations.
Figure 4: Average value of Post Office deposits, per capita 2022 to 2024
Source: Post Officer Cash Tracker data provided to the Treasury Committee; Office for National Statistics, 2022 and 2023 mid-year population estimates for England (accessed 2 April 2025); Stats Wales, National level population estimates by year (accessed 2 April 2025); National Records of Scotland, 2023 and 2022 mid-year population estimates (accessed 2 April 2025); Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2022 and 2023 mid-year population estimates (accessed 2 April 2025); Treasury Committee calculations.
Volume
Figure 5: Average number of Post Office cash withdrawal transaction per capita 2022 to 2024
Source: Post Officer Cash Tracker data provided to the Treasury Committee; Office for National Statistics, 2022 and 2023 mid-year population estimates for England (accessed 2 April 2025); Stats Wales, National level population estimates by year (accessed 2 April 2025); National Records of Scotland, 2023 and 2022 mid-year population estimates (accessed 2 April 2025); Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2022 and 2023 mid-year population estimates (accessed 2 April 2025); Treasury Committee calculations.
Figure 6: Average number of Post Office cash deposit transactions per capita 2022 to 2024
Source: Post Officer Cash Tracker data provided to the Treasury Committee; Office for National Statistics, 2022 and 2023 mid-year population estimates for England (accessed 2 April 2025); Stats Wales, National level population estimates by year (accessed 2 April 2025); National Records of Scotland, 2023 and 2022 mid-year population estimates (accessed 2 April 2025); Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2022 and 2023 mid-year population estimates (accessed 2 April 2025); Treasury Committee calculations.
Cash usage at the constituency level
16. Differences in cash withdrawals can also be seen at the constituency level. Those differences may relate to social and economic factors in constituencies. Figures 7 to 10 show ATM cash withdrawals, set against relative child poverty levels in the constituencies with the highest and lowest numbers of cash withdrawals in each UK nation.
Figure 7: England – Constituencies with the highest and lowest cash withdrawals by volume set against the relative child poverty rate, October 2024
Source: LINK ATM Scheme withdrawal data; Child poverty data published by the House of Commons Library using Office for National Statistics data
Figure 8: Scotland - Constituencies with the highest and lowest cash withdrawals by volume set against the relative child poverty rate, October 2024
Source: LINK ATM Scheme withdrawal data; Child poverty data published by the House of Commons Library using Office for National Statistics data, July 2024.
Figure 9: Wales - Constituencies with the highest and lowest cash withdrawals by volume set against the relative child poverty rate, October 2024
Source: LINK ATM Scheme withdrawal data; Child poverty data published by the House of Commons Library using Office for National Statistics data, July 2024.
Figure 10: Northern Ireland - Constituencies with the highest and lowest cash withdrawals by volume set against the relative child poverty rate, October 2024
Sources: LINK ATM Scheme withdrawal data; Child poverty data published by the House of Commons Library using Office for National Statistics data, July 2024.
The transition away from cash
Transport
17. Witnesses highlighted public transport and infrastructure for motorists as areas where cash acceptance has become less common. Consumer Scotland, the statutory consumer advocacy group, observed that while “consumers can generally pay for their journeys with cash”, there “is a growing trend across the UK to make public transport ticketing more integrated across modes with single smart cards or apps.”26 Although Consumer Scotland supported the development of such systems, it also called for them to retain cash to help those reliant on cash to access public transport.27 Wayne Crocker, Director, Mencap Cymru, added that “Transport for Wales has now moved to fining anyone who enters a train without a ticket”, but most “stations are not staffed, so unless you can pay for a ticket with a debit or credit card you cannot actually buy a ticket at a station”.28 Amenities onboard most trains also do not accept cash. Ron Delnevo, Chair of the Payment Choice Alliance, told us that without a card “you cannot buy anything on most trains to eat now because they have gone cashless.”29
18. Many witnesses identified the problem of car parks having removed the ability to pay by physical cash.30 Chris Brooks, Head of Policy, Age UK, said it was the issue he heard about the most, with some older people “very frustrated about the trip out that they cannot make by car because they discover they cannot pay for parking”.31 Age UK highlighted LINK research which suggests that a significant minority might struggle to pay for car parking digitally.32 One individual stated that “a lot of older people struggle with using phone apps for car parks”, a problem compounded by occasional signal failure.33
Government services
19. Charities and consumers told us that local government and local government-funded services are increasingly cashless. Wayne Crocker, Director, Mencap Cymru, identified “real concerns around the fact that lots of statutory agencies that we deal with, especially in Wales, are moving to cashless.” Mr Crocker observed that this “makes another barrier for people with a learning disability.”34
20. Ron Delnevo, Chair, Payment Choice Alliance, stated that “[we] are getting into a terrible situation now where hundreds of leisure centres round the country are owned by local authorities but operated by […] two charities [which] are cashless.”35 This point was echoed at our roundtable with people with lived experience of relying on cash. One attendee, who had been unable to get a debit account for a while due to a poor credit rating, had been faced with all leisure centres in their area being effectively closed to them because they required either a membership card or a payment card to enter. Getting either card required a bank account.36
Supermarkets and petrol stations
21. The reduction in staffed or cash-accepting tills in favour of card-only self-service tills (particularly in relation to fuel purchases) was also a theme in the evidence we received from both individuals and organisations. Positive Money cited the “British Retail Consortium’s latest payments survey [which] suggests that retailers with self-service checkouts are less likely to accept cash.”37 Attendees at our roundtable event told us that the increased use by supermarkets of self-service checkouts could force people to use the smaller number of staffed tills, with one attendee telling us “[it] singles you out if you have to pay by cash.”38
Research on cash acceptance
Consumer perspectives
22. LINK researched consumers’ experiences of cash acceptance.39 It found that by November 2024 half of respondents had been somewhere that did not accept cash or discouraged cash usage over the previous eight weeks. Figure 11 shows sectors in which consumers felt that cash had not been accepted or that cash usage had been discouraged.
Figure 11: “Where have you been in the past eight weeks which did not accept or discouraged cash?”
Source: Written evidence submitted by LINK ATM Scheme (AOC0177, page 5)
Business perspectives
23. In 2021, the FCA published research on cash acceptance by small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).40 The research focused on SMEs in the retail, hospitality and services industries which conducted an element of face-to-face trade and where cash payments were possible.41 The research found “high levels of happiness in accepting all face-to-face payment methods, with nearly two thirds of small business owners stating they were ‘very happy’ to accept cash currently”. That research also found that 98% of small business owners would “never turn a customer away if they needed to pay in cash”.42
24. Taken alongside the LINK research (see Consumer Perspectives, above) the research on cash acceptance seen during this inquiry is not conclusive, with Positive Money describing current research on cash acceptance as appearing “mixed and incomplete.”43
Future viability of physical cash
25. Given the known decline in cash usage, but the inconclusive research available on cash acceptance, we wanted to understand what the consequences might be if cash usage were to decline further. We heard that letting physical cash decline in an unmanaged way by not addressing the issue of acceptance may lead to future costs. Ross Borkett, Banking Director, Post Office, stated that “if we get to a point where cash acceptance has reduced and then there is a change in the rules and it has to be reintroduced, there could be a cost in doing that.”44 He added that those higher costs are “why it is important to be having this conversation early, while we do not really feel like there is an issue, so that we can give that long-term certainty to business, but we are not creating a reversal and reinvestment.”45
The Government’s position on cash regulation
26. We challenged Emma Reynolds MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, on the future viability of the cash system and on whether any risk assessment on its viability had been conducted. In response, She said that “the focus of the Government is on the access to cash regime”46 and that the Government could not have this as a focus “and then do a risk assessment of a cashless society.”47 She argued that Government regulation of access to cash will support the acceptance of cash, because it allows businesses that want to accept cash to deposit cash.48
27. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury set out the Government’s current policy on cash acceptance to us, stating that “we have no plans to regulate businesses, big or small, to compel them to accept cash.”49
2 Factors influencing cash use
28. For some people, the use of physical cash is by preference. For others, however, cash is necessary to live their lives or to help with budgeting.
Poverty and cash reliance
29. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its 2022 Financial Lives Survey, suggested that “[people] more likely to be heavy users of cash in 2022 include […] those on a low income” among other characteristics such as “vulnerability” or age.50
30. Changing Realities, a project set up by the Universities of York and Salford and the Child Poverty Action Group to document and share the experiences of people living on a low income, provided us with the personal experiences of people involved with the project. Many of the experiences highlighted that cash can be a vital budgeting and savings tool for people on low incomes. One person said that cash “is more than just physical currency—it’s a tool that many of us rely on to manage our lives effectively.” Another said that the reverse was true of card payments and that “when I use my card, it’s almost impossible to track payments in real time, which leads to chaos and added stress.”51
31. Our roundtable with people who have lived experience of relying on cash included older people and those with lived experience of poverty and disability. We were again told that for people living on a low income, being able to withdraw how much you can spend means that you can track it easily. One attendee repeated that with “online banking the problem is that you don’t know how much you spend.”52
32. Attendees also drew attention to how moves towards not accepting or restricting the use of cash can lead to people experiencing poverty who are facing financial exclusion being more widely socially excluded. One attendee told us that “[people] who are rough sleeping it’s all going to be cash.”53
Cash and the poverty premium
33. The Payment Choice Alliance (PCA), which campaigns to protect cash as a payment method for consumers, raised the issue of the poverty premium, which describes situations where low-income households pay more for essential goods and services.54 It reported estimates that those who are unbanked pay a £485 poverty premium each year.55 The same point was raised in our roundtable discussion. Attendees told us that paying for some goods and services in cash may cost more.56
34. We raised our concerns about the relationship between cash and the poverty premium with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. She told us the Government’s position was that it did “not want this poverty premium […] to exist.”57
Cash reliance and the unbanked
35. For people who do not have bank accounts, who are sometimes referred to as the ‘unbanked’, being able to spend physical cash is vital. Chris Brooks, Head of Policy, Age UK, told the Committee that although it “is a minority of people who do not have a bank account […] there is still quite a substantial minority of people that are still unbanked.” Mr Brooks said that the reasons for this were “difficult to say”, but included past financial difficulty.58 He added that Age UK had heard about increasing difficulties with setting up accounts in branches, with banks setting high requirements for ID, which people on lower incomes were less likely to have, and with digital exclusion also being a barrier.59
36. Drawing on the FCA’s Financial Lives Survey, Positive Money observed that 1.1 million unbanked adults in the UK might be particularly reliant on cash acceptance.60 Positive Money added that although the elderly (especially those over 75) were more likely to be unbanked younger people between “18–24 were the most likely to be unbanked”.61
37. Changing Realities explained the impact that businesses refusing cash can have on the unbanked, with one individual writing that the “number of signs I’ve seen held by people who are rough sleeping who have said ‘please don’t give me change, just give me hot drinks or food as I can’t get it without a card’ has been astonishing.”62
38. We asked the Economic Secretary to the Treasury what practical solutions exist for people who are unbanked, including those who are homeless, in a world without a cash acceptance mandate. She replied that she is “very keen to work with the banks to ensure that they are taking practical measures to help people.”63
Cash and learning disabilities
39. We also heard that people with learning disabilities were more likely to need to rely on cash and could be severely impacted by cash being refused as a form of payment. Mencap told us that there was a “substantial risk that many people with a learning disability who are cash users will become unacceptably disadvantaged by a lack of ability to use cash payments.”64 They noted that “whilst some people with a learning disability are comfortable using digital apps and debit or credit cards […] other people rely disproportionately on cash as their payment preference.”65 Mencap told us that this reliance was because “digital and online payment methods are frequently inaccessible”.66 Websites and apps were “not designed” with people with learning disabilities in mind and “49% of disabled people had experienced barriers accessing banking products and services in the last 12 months.” Their evidence also noted that people with a learning disability were exposed to scams; financial abuse and exploitation and that this was the most frequently safeguarding issue on Mencap’s information and advice helpline last year.”67 People with learning disabilities, they argued, were also disproportionately dependent on cash acceptance due to existing economic inequality” as disabled people as a whole “typically have incomes one-third below their non-disabled low-income counterpart and 67% of low-income households with a person who has a learning disability were in arrears with at least one bill in May 2024.”68
40. Wayne Crocker, Director, Mencap Cymru, explained how people with learning disabilities can be affected by the refusal of cash as a payment method. He described one man who “has been buying the same magazine from this shop for many years, and then the shop moved to cashless” but he “had not understood this and tried to pay.” The shop “said they could not accept it, and then he had a meltdown and was removed by the police.”69 We asked if, beyond mandating cash acceptance, anything could be done to make life easier for people with learning disabilities in relation to cash acceptance. Mr Crocker told us that the UK needs “to look to a system where maybe there is some sort of sign on the door so people know that they can pay cash if they go in.”70
41. Mr Crocker also told us that a decline in the number of places that accepted cash could stop people with learning disabilities from being included in society, especially where that is the only example of that type of venue. He noted that while on a high street “some of the cafés may decide not to accept cash”, there will often be another café that accepts cash. However, “[often] a theatre will be the only theatre in town [if] it decides to move to cashless, you do not have a choice to go somewhere else.” As a result of this, Mr Crocker told us “people with a learning disability are being excluded from the sorts of places that they go to feel part of their communities.”71
42. In our roundtable we heard that people with learning disabilities can struggle with the more abstract nature of value when dealing with digital payments.72 A representative of Mencap told us that physical cash “is like an object of reference for people who have limited capacity… [if] people go out with a few pounds we can explain that when it’s gone, it’s gone.”73
43. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury stated that the Government “need[s] to look at financial guardianship” to “look at the rules at what the carers and guardians of people with learning difficulties can and cannot do.” She added that she had only recently become a Minister, so she had “not been able to get into the detail of that”, but would “have a look at what we might be able to do.”74 Anna Harvey, Deputy Director Payments and Fintech, HM Treasury, raised the possibility of potential technological solutions such as “payment cards where money is loaded” rather than a debit card and where “those people with those issues would feel more comfortable”. She added that “I completely appreciate and definitely agree that cash is really important to a lot of people, particularly a lot of vulnerable people.”75
Cash and economic abuse
44. Victims and survivors of economic abuse76 may rely on cash to survive and to escape their abusers. Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA), a charity dedicated to raising awareness of economic abuse, stated how important physical cash is to victim-survivors of economic abuse. Deidre Cartwright, Public Affairs and Policy Manager, told us that “I do not think that [the Government and others] have a full understanding of individuals’ needs to access cash [in] particular, victims and survivors of economic abuse, and domestic abuse more widely, are dependent on cash for their safety and survival.” Ms Cartwright noted that cash “is a means for [victim-survivors of abuse] to escape an abuser, especially when that abuser can track them through a bank account” and that “[people] also do not know how vastly prevalent this is […] [we] released findings just last week that showed that 4.1 million women in the UK have experienced” economic coercive control or abuse from a partner or ex-partner.77
45. SEA set out the reasons why victim-survivors of economic abuse rely on cash. It said that one reason is that perpetrators “of economic abuse restrict victim-survivors’ access to an independent bank account […] through tactics like only allowing a victim-survivor a joint bank account with the abuser and/or controlling a victim-survivor’s access to an independent bank account.” SEA shared the experience of a victim-survivor whose “account was closed by her bank when her ex-husband falsely told them she was no longer in the country […] she could only open a basic account, which did not allow card payments” leaving her “fully dependent on cash payments as a means to survive.”78
46. SEA also outlined the impact of the wider shift to contactless and other digital payments accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. One victim-survivor’s abuser “prevented her from accessing her account at all and instead gave her a small weekly cash budget.” Although that was “restrictive”, “paying in cash provided her with a degree of control to manage how she spent the money”, but “because of the pandemic’s move towards contactless payment, she shared that “Now [her abuser] can see and scrutinize every penny in spending” making paying for essentials harder.79
47. At our roundtable with victim-survivors of economic abuse we also heard from representatives of SEA and Southall Black Sisters, a domestic violence campaign group with a long history of working with black, minoritised and migrant women and girls.80 Quotations in the following paragraphs are taken from the published anonymised meeting notes, with direct quotes from attendees in italics.81
48. Attendees stated that they “felt it was important that cash was retained and was accepted widely […] one attendee hoped people would leave the meeting with the knowledge that not having access to cash can be ‘literally a matter of life and death.’” We were told being able to access and use cash was vital to escape from abusers, with attendees telling us that “being able to hide cash in multiple locations was less risky than having all their money on a bank card which could be discovered by their abuser.” When asked whether “a card could be hidden in the same way as cash”, attendees responded that “abusers didn’t know that hidden cash was there, unlike with cards […] [one] attendee described how her partner would abuse her to get access to her bank card and she felt that having cash gave her more options.”82
49. Attendees also referred to the decline of cash acceptance for transport, because as “one attendee noted, turning someone away in a train station because the rail company won’t accept cash for ticket purchases, stops them escaping a dangerous abuser and places them in danger.” One attendee asked “[if] I go to a train station, how do I escape if I can’t buy a ticket?”
50. The decline of cash in schools was also raised by attendees, including around ParentPay, which is used by schools for cashless payments such as for student meals.83 An “attendee described how her abuser controlled the money on the ParentPay card and this resulted in her daughters not being able to buy food and going hungry [… ] [this] was not recognised by the school as a safeguarding issue and no efforts were made to accept payments from them in any other form.”84
51. We were also told that “black, minoritised and migrant victim-survivors… face additional barriers to support and safety because of things such as language barriers or because of an insecure immigration status which perpetrators will use to their advantage.”85 Perpetrators “often withheld important immigration documentation from them so that they could not open bank accounts” and they “often had ‘No Resource to Public Funds’ making cash acceptance even more vital for women who rely solely on cash subsistence from charities that support them.”86
52. We raised the issue of whether cash acceptance should be mandated for essential services. Attendees told us “that cash should be widely accepted by businesses as perpetrators would learn where outlets accepting cash were and go there if there were only a few doing so.” One attendee said cash “has to be accepted everywhere. Once you start categorising it, perpetrators are going to start learning where those places are.” They also stressed that “places that might not be considered ‘essential’ can provide a safe space, such as a bar where someone could temporarily flee to escape their abuser.”87
53. We raised the concerns around economic abuse with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. She said that she had read the evidence provided to the Committee and that “[tackling] economic abuse is a priority for the Government” which “is why we have an ambitious access to cash regime.” She pointed out that the Government is “very nervous about putting any additional burdens on small business in particular.”88 Anna Harvey, Deputy Director Payments and Fintech, HM Treasury, told the Committee that on “economic abuse, cash is obviously the focus today, but there is also a broader set of actions or things that we should be thinking about and discussing as Government with the [financial services] sector about how they can provide services to women in those circumstances.”89 This included solving issues of “coerced debt and people stuck in joint mortgages.”90
Cash and older people
54. We heard that older people often rely on physical cash. Age UK, a UK-wide charity for older people, stated that there “is a clear age-related element to many of the findings” of the 2020 and 2022 FCA Financial Lives surveys, noting that 37% of people over 75 had used cash the last time they purchased something in a local shop, compared to an all-age average of 18%, and that only 10% of this older age group, and 9% of 65–74s did not use cash, significantly lower than younger groups.91
55. The reasons why older people may prefer to use or to rely on physical cash vary. Age UK found the main reason to be “convenience and speed”. “Trust”, was the next reason, with “using cash to control spending” being the third highest category.92
56. Later Life Ambitions, a joint initiative of the Civil Service Pensioners’ Alliance, National Association of Retired Police Officers and the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, stressed the importance of physical cash to older people.93 It argued that “[strengthening] the cash system is essential to increasing the financial independence of an increasing ageing population, who are struggling with the fast pace of digitalisation in society, particularly with respect to their banking and financial services.”94 Drawing on research conducted by Lloyds Banking Group, it stated that “[we] know that 49% of people aged 75 & over in the UK in 2023 were unable to complete all eight of the tasks required to set someone up for success online.”95
57. We heard at our roundtable event with people who rely on cash that “the fear of being scammed or losing your money in other ways” is particularly important for older people.96 Like people with disabilities, older people “may have to rely on other people to buy goods and services for them” and physical cash can provide reassurance that only the money that is handed over can be spent. We also heard that physical cash can be “beneficial for slowing cognitive decline for older people.97
58. We asked Chris Brooks of Age UK whether there is an understanding of how and why older people might want or need to use physical cash. Mr Brooks told the Committee “I do not think that there is a full understanding of cash access needs… [among] older people, it is quite often linked to digital inclusion.” Mr Brooks told us that there “are still a couple of million pensioners who do not use the internet […] and many more lack the skills to use it proficiently.” He raised the point that managing “your money online […] is at the high end of the risk spectrum” and that many “people simply are not ever going to develop the skills, no matter how much we try […] so cash will remain extremely important for a large number of people.”98
Cash use and mental health
59. We also heard that people with mental health problems may rely on cash. Conor D’Arcy, Deputy Chief Executive, Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, observed that while “there have been great strides in recent years” in creating a wider understanding of the needs of people with mental health problems, “there is still some work to be done on how […] things such as memory, making decisions” and others aspect of mental health problems affect people. Mr D’Arcy said that when “we speak to people with mental health problems, it is often for those very reasons that they rely on cash.”99
Cash acceptance and equalities legislation
60. Several members of the public told us that there could be, or already is a risk that organisations refusing to accept physical cash could violate the Equality Act 2010.100 This point was also raised by Wayne Crocker, Director, Mencap Cymru, who said that he “would challenge Government around how they use the Equality Act to ensure that people who have to have access to venues through cash can carry on doing that.”101
61. The Equality Act 2010 prohibits indirect discrimination, which occurs when a policy that applies to all people particularly disadvantages a group with a protected characteristic.102 Age and disability are protected characteristics under the 2010 Act.103 The 2010 Act also requires reasonable adjustments to be made if a person with a disability is placed at a substantial disadvantage. And it prohibits the costs of complying with the need to make a reasonable adjustment being passed on to individual disabled people.104
62. Anna Harvey, Deputy Director Payments and Fintech, HM Treasury, stated that it was “for the courts to decide” on the interpretation of the Equality Act 2010 and what a reasonable adjustment would constitute.105 The Economic Secretary to the Treasury told the Committee that the “financial inclusion strategy is going to look at all of those vulnerable groups and take their needs into account.”106
63. The Financial Inclusion Committee, which is chaired by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, brings together charities and financial services companies to promote financial inclusion. It will develop the financial inclusion strategy. The Minister confirmed that the strategy will be delivered later in 2025.107 She wrote that one of the Financial Inclusion Committee’s focus areas is on “digital inclusion and access to banking services” with a Sub-Committee focusing on this topic.108
Alternatives to cash through technology
64. There may be technological solutions for people who currently rely on physical cash. Mastercard, one of two major payment card infrastructure operators, highlighted technological alternatives to cash, such as prepaid cards in its written evidence.109
65. The Government’s National Payments Vision highlights the Bank of England’s digital pound project as a technological means by which the Government can support financial inclusion.110 The Economic Secretary to the Treasury stated that the Treasury is “always really happy to learn from what others are doing internationally” and that “in some of […] emerging economies, they are stealing a charge on us because they are almost taking a digital-first approach.” Anna Harvey, Deputy Director Payments and Fintech, HM Treasury, stated that beyond “access to the devices, access to the internet” there is also an element about “having the skills to access those technologies” and “developing the right products that [the digitally excluded] can engage with.”111
Consumer choice
66. Although cash use has declined in general, this trend is not necessarily matched by a decline in the number of people who want the option of using physical cash. The Payment Choice Alliance, a group that campaigns for the legal protection of cash as a payment method, highlighted a 2023 survey suggesting that “71% of British adults wanted a law passed to guarantee they could use their cash, when and where they choose.”112
67. LINK, which operates the UK’s ATM network, surveyed people who think that cash is important. The survey showed that “having [cash] as a choice in itself was the most popular option while the preference of the payee113 was important for almost half.” The same survey also noted “[privacy] and concern over confidentiality were also important factors for between 20–25% of people.”114
68. Several witnesses who wrote to us highlighted the importance of consumer choice. One person told us that while the “argument will be made that anyone who isn’t a pensioner has already gotten used to [card payments]” some people still prefer to use cash.115 Another witness observed that “[cash] plays a critical role in ensuring financial inclusion, consumer choice, and economic resilience.”116
69. Dr Alison Lui, Reader in Corporate and Financial Law, and Dr Paul A Jones, Reader in the Social Economy and Financial Inclusion, at Liverpool John Moores University, raised the issue of balancing the choices of businesses to accept payment methods and the ability of consumers to choose. Noting that cash “is a matter of consumer choice, civil liberty and a budgeting tool during a cost-of-living crisis”, they accepted “the challenges of a mandatory requirement to accept cash” but argued that the “’freedom to contract’ principle enjoyed by businesses is too protective of businesses.”117
Factors affecting choice including budgeting
70. Several witnesses pointed out that events may influence consumer choice on payment methods. Professor Darren Duxbury (Newcastle University) and Professor Thanos Verousis (Vlerick Business School) told us that people can turn to cash in the face of significant events, such as economic downturns or security breaches.118 They found a “shift to cash” by people in response to these events with half of people who had intended to “pay ‘mostly’ or ‘always’ electronically” dropping to 38% and 20% in the economic downturn and security breach scenarios.119 Their research noted that “[while] payment intention habits might form, evidence of shifts in response to [external] shocks […] demonstrate that such habits are not immune to change” and behavioural factors play a part in this change.120 One of these behaviour factors is that people who using “mental accounts” or “budgeting” are more likely to use cash.121
Cash and culture
71. Some witnesses highlighted physical cash’s value, beyond its role as a payment method. Many told us that the physicality of cash, when provided to children as pocket money, was central to helping children learn the value of money and budgeting.122 One stated that “children will learn to save that cash, to value it as such because they can see it and count it in a jar… [a] digital approach is simply not the same, teaches the children very little in comparison: it’s just a number, like homework!”123 Another individual highlighted that physical cash “is a human cultural habit” that “gives physical connection to something otherwise ‘abstract’.”124
3 Businesses and organisations
72. Processing physical cash can be costly for businesses and other organisations, but other payment methods, such as cards, are not cost free. As a result, businesses of different sizes and types have different payment preferences. The evidence that we received on the relative cost of card payments versus cash and other payments was inconclusive, with different pieces of evidence finding different payment methods to be the costliest. Concerns were also raised with us about the transparency of costs in the payments market.
Payment processors and cash management firms
73. G4S Cash Solutions provided the Committee with an estimate of cash-handling costs. It told us that “when managed efficiently using a smart safe solution” and a cash management provider, for businesses handling up to £20,000 in cash per week, the total cost including factors like cash-in-transit, bank processing, and account fees, was estimated to range between 0.63% and 1.14% of the annual transaction , and that for businesses handling more than £1.5 million annually, the costs of card and card payments tended to converge.125
74. Mastercard, one of the two main payment processors in the debit and credit card market, provided general figures on costs in the payment card market. For an average domestic card transaction of £50 in the UK, it reported the total cost to the merchant of accepting a card payment to be 2.4% of the transaction value, or £1.20. Mastercard told us that the cost to accept payment by cash was higher, at £1.75, and higher still to accept payment via BNPL [Buy Now Pay Later] at (£2.05).” Mastercard’s evidence for the cost of card transactions is a “study by the Boston Consulting Group.”126
Representative groups
75. The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC’s) 2024 Payments Survey (see also Supermarkets and petrol stations above in Chapter 1) stated that costs could vary depending on the payment method, but that they represented “a significant growing cost” with the total costs of all types of processing being £2.15 billion in 2023, a 30% increase over 2022.127 The BRC survey also found that cash remained the least expensive payment method but had become more expensive, increasing from 0.15% as a proportion of sales in 2022 to 0.20% in 2023. Citing “rising transaction volumes on cards and persistent excessive costs”, the survey identified that [average] transaction costs as a percentage of sales also remained high at 0.27% for debit cards and 0.61% for credit cards.128 Within card payments, debit cards saw pence per transaction increases between 2022 and 2023 on acquirer fees from 0.07p to 0.14p, interchange fees (a 7.6% increase from 4.35p in 2022 to 4.68p in 2023) and scheme fees (a 36% increase from 0.92 in 2022 to 1.25p in 2023).129
Regulators
76. On 6 March 2025, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) released its final report for its market review into card scheme and processing fees.130 The review was conducted in part because of stakeholder concerns about Mastercard and Visa increasing fees.131 The review looked specifically at scheme and processing fees.132 It found that “[existing] alternative payment methods to cards do not exert effective competitive constraints on fees” charged by Mastercard or Visa, with “little evidence that fee increases are linked directly to any changes in relevant costs or that new fees are set on the basis of detailed cost analysis.”133 It also found that “Mastercard and Visa do not provide sufficiently clear and detailed information to acquirers, resulting in their receiving complex or incomplete information on core and optional processing services and fees.”134 The PSR launched a consultation on remedies on 2 April 2025.135
77. On 11 March 2025, the Prime Minister announced that the PSR would be abolished and merged into the FCA as part of the “latest step in reducing the burdens on business.”136 David Geale, Interim Managing Director, PSR, stated that he is “anticipating that the PSR will continue as an organisation for a period until we get legislation, so I would estimate late next year.”137
Differences in costs to small and large businesses
78. The costs of accepting payments can change, depending on the size of the business. The European Cash Management Companies Association (ESTA) noted that there may be a difference in the costs of handling cash depending on business size, because cash “is a volume driven activity and the cost of cash therefore increases when volumes diminish.” As a result, “[small] companies with smaller business volumes are more likely to feel the increased cost resulting from decreasing cash volumes, up to a point where they will decide not to accept cash anymore.”138
79. James Lowman, Chief Executive, Association of Convenience Stores, told us that there “is certainly a feeling among our members that the cost of doing business and the cost of accepting payments in any form is going up.”139 He argued that “there should be much greater transparency and much more downward pressure on those fees, and there should be competition to try to drive down those fees for retailers.”140
80. The Federation of Small Businesses stated that “the handling of cash can be a prohibitively expensive undertaking for many small businesses […] exacerbated by the diminishing cash infrastructure”, which creates further cash handling costs.141
81. The Post Office identified “clear costs associated with accepting cash”, but observed that “many retailers, especially those selling essential services, are likely to want to continue accepting cash in order to service as many different customers as possible” and not turn away customers.142 It stated that “[on] the other hand, large businesses can often negotiate lower merchant fees than small businesses, so they may well have a preference for” non-cash payments. It added that with “the overall decline in cash usage, [cash management] operations are likely now to be significantly reduced, prompting larger businesses to question the operational expenditure associated with cash for a diminishing portion of their payments” and concluded that there was “a risk that some larger businesses may choose to stop accepting cash to reduce overall costs or to drive simplification in store, thereby excluding those groups which continue to rely on cash the most.”143
82. Cash is a competitor to other forms of payment, such as debit card payments, and it might help to keep the prices set by payment processors at a reasonable level. Positive Money, which campaigns for economic reform, told us that part of cash’s “significant wider social and economic value” is the fact that the “existence of cash, regardless of the level of its usage, provides a competitive floor in payments […] preventing a captive market that would allow dominant firms to hike fees further.”144
Business preferences
Small and medium-sized businesses
83. Representatives of small and medium-sized businesses told us that they were generally happy to accept cash, although they would not want cash acceptance to be mandated. James Lowman, Chief Executive, ACS (see also Chapter 1, Trends in cash usage), told the Committee that he was “expecting if I was back here in five to 10 years’ time, if we still had 50,000 convenience stores, hopefully, I expect it would still be a small handful that did not accept cash.”145 When asked if he would be happy with the Government mandating cash acceptance in convenience stores on the basis they provide an essential service, Mr Lowman replied that on “a point of principle we probably would not, but, on a point of practicality, it is actually a reasonably technical point at the moment, because I do not see any point where our members in any great numbers are not going to be accepting cash.”146
84. We asked Mr Lowman if retailers should be able to stop accepting cash if consumers start demanding it less. Mr Lowman responded that “I accept that when we see those market forces heading towards a point where there may be some areas where you could see exclusion in certain locations […] then there might be something there in thinking about how you promote provision of cash acceptance in those areas.” Mr Lowman told us that the UK is “so far away from convenience stores on any mass-market level not accepting cash that it is almost quite a theoretical discussion.”147
85. The British Independent Retailers Association, which represents a wider range of types of businesses, provided research indicating that 89% of businesses do not see themselves stopping accepting cash in the “foreseeable future” and that for those considering going card-only, there was no specific sector that was more likely to move away from cash.148
Street markets and crafts fairs
86. Physical cash remains important to many street market vendors and operators. Graham Wilson, Deputy Chief Executive, National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA), told us that the “ability to use cash is absolutely vital to the preservation and future of the markets industry.” He stated that the majority of transactions in markets are small in nature and in “that context, cash makes more sense.” NABMA conducted a “snap survey”, in which most participants reported that “30% to 40% of transactions that take place in markets are now by card”, although one “exceptional” market reported that “since covid they have moved to taking something in the order of 90% in card transactions.”149 Mr Wilson argued that “[NABMA’s] research shows that the majority of people using markets come from an older age group and from lower-income groups” and that those “sorts of groups tend to want to use cash rather than rely on other forms of transaction.”150
87. Individuals who make and sell goods at craft fairs submitted evidence to our inquiry. One told us that they “sell [their] products at craft shows” where “the phone signal is often unreliable” and where “cash (or trust) can be the only option.” They added that “card readers are expensive to buy and use, and the size of my business and the number of transactions does not justify the cost of an unreliable technology.”151 Another craftsperson observed that perhaps “half the locations do not have sufficient signal to use e-payments […] [and] often traders who rely on e-payments only do not sell anything.”152
Community-run shops
88. The cost of card transactions may disadvantage community-run shops, some of which consequently prefer to take physical cash. One shop told us that they “urge customers to pay with cash whenever possible”, because for them “[debit] and credit card transactions carry an overhead cost […] [the] smaller the transaction size, the greater the overhead cost per unit of sales, which is sometimes less than one pound.”153 A volunteer at another community-run store wrote that the “cost of cash is a uniform expense to the business which by careful change management can be kept to just the cost of paying it into the bank.” For cards, however, the “transaction cost […] on top of the commission charged by the company processing the payment [makes] smaller payment disproportionately more expensive for the shop.”154
Larger retail businesses
89. We did not receive any evidence from larger businesses or from organisations that represent larger retail businesses during our inquiry, but the British Retail Consortium published research which highlighted that all large retailers are committed to accepting cash in their stores due to its lower cost compared with other forms of payment.155 When asked how he thought that larger firms were approaching cash acceptance, James Lowman, Chief Executive Officer, Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) stressed that he was not speaking for those larger stores, but “[in] a way, they seem to be moving towards card being the norm, but still offering a cash facility in those sites.”156
Local government
90. We asked the Local Government Association (LGA) if it would provide evidence to the Committee on the preferences of those working in local government on accepting physical cash and if it could provide a witness for an oral evidence session. The LGA declined to provide evidence in either form.
4 National security and resilience
91. Beyond the day-to-day use of cash by individuals, we also heard concerns that if the ability of businesses and organisations to accept cash continues to decline, the UK may lose a payment method important for broader resilience.
HM Treasury, national security and resilience
92. The National Risk Register is the public-facing version of the Government’s assessment of the most serious risks facing the UK.157 It outlines risks to the UK that could develop into events requiring an emergency response. The Risk Register contains four key risks that specifically deal with the financial system, with two risks of malicious cyberattack by a state actor and two risks of non-malicious technological failure.
93. The two non-malicious risks involve technological failure at a systemically important retail bank or a UK provider of critical financial market infrastructure.158 Both scenarios involve significant negative impacts to the ability of individuals and business to make payments. The central estimates of the impact to the UK as a whole for both risks are rated as moderate.159 An example of the economic cost for a moderate impact risk given by the Risk Register would be hundreds of millions of pounds.160 The Risk Register estimates the likelihood of technological failure at a systemically important retail bank at between 1% and 5%, and the likelihood of technological failure at a critical UK financial market infrastructure provider at over 25%. Both those risks are assessed over a five-year period.161
94. The malicious risks on the register are of a cyberattack by a state actor, also on a systemically important retail bank or critical national financial infrastructure.162 The average impact for cyberattacks is also scored at level 3 (moderate) and the average likelihood is between 5% and 25% over a two-year period.163
95. For both malicious and non-malicious risks to the financial sector, responsibility to respond to these risks falls to the government entities designated in the UK’s Authorities’ Response Framework.164 The three financial authorities are HM Treasury, the FCA and the Bank of England, with the Treasury as the lead Government Department.165 The Treasury is therefore responsible for securing payments in the area of national security and civil resilience.
Payment system failures and cash
96. Following an IT failure at Barclays Bank, which prevented payments being made to and from bank accounts for three days, including during the income tax self-assessment deadline, we wrote to major retail banks in the UK to gather more information on the frequency and length of IT failures.166 The letters received from banks showed at least 158 banking IT outages between January 2023 and February 2025.167
97. Common reasons given in the letters received by the Committee regarding IT failures included problems with third-party suppliers, disruption caused by a change in systems used and internal software malfunctions.168 When payment systems fail, physical cash withdrawals can increase. Ross Borkett, Banking Director, Post Office, identified “a big increase in cash withdrawals on days where there is an outage of some form with a payments system.”169
98. Some witnesses stressed that cash has a role to play in providing resilience if payment systems stop working. Ron Delnevo of the Payment Choice Alliance told us that the “thing about cash is […] if you have it, it works.”170 Other witnesses highlighted the resilience provided by physical cash. Positive Money linked cash acceptance directly to economic resilience, noting that “the cash system will likely serve as an increasingly vital lifeline” in an increasingly uncertain world.171 The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) noted that while “a growing reliance on digital payments” is “understandable […] it does present a number of risks and the tangible nature of cash needs to be considered” because of the “sporadic major outages in electronic payment services” in recent years.172
99. Individuals also highlighted economic resilience, with one writing that natural “disasters or system outages can make digital payments unavailable, making cash a vital backup.”173 Many other witnesses echoed this point, suggesting that for many people who provided evidence to the inquiry, physical cash is seen as a tool to support the UK’s resilience to disasters of any kind.174
5 International examples
100. The United Kingdom is not the only country considering the role of cash and the regulatory environment around the use of cash. The Payment Choice Alliance argued that the UK’s position on cash acceptance is “increasingly anomalous” compared with a number of countries, including neighbouring countries which have mandated cash acceptance.175
Case studies
101. When we considered international examples, we focused on a small number of case studies that are comparable to the UK. The following provide examples of different international approaches to tackle the problem: the European Union’s approach to regulating cash access and acceptance across all countries that use the euro; the approach adopted by Sweden, a country that was almost cashless; and Australia, a country similar to the UK that recently proposed its own cash acceptance regime.
The European Union
102. The cash strategy for the euro is centred on ensuring that the euro remains widely accessible and accepted as both a means of payment and a store of value.176 The Eurosystem comprises the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the EU member states that use the euro as their national currency. In 2023, the European Commission proposed regulation on the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins as part of a dual effort to maintain access to and acceptance of cash.177
103. The proposed regulation makes it necessary for all member states that use the euro regularly to monitor the level of unilateral exclusions of payments in euro coins and notes when those payments are made in physical premises. If cash acceptance and access is found to be at an acceptable level, states would not be required to act beyond continuing to monitor cash acceptance levels in the future. If a member state concludes that acceptance of cash levels are undermining the acceptance of payments in euro coins or banknotes or that access to cash has decreased (or is at risk of falling to) an unacceptable level, the proposed regulations require member states to take proportionate action.178 The regulations suggest that proportionate action might take the form of a prohibition on refusing cash in certain areas (such as rural areas), in sectors which are deemed essential or for certain types of payments which are deemed essential.179
104. The proposals have been adopted by the European Commission but have not yet been implemented.180 Some members of the Eurozone, such as France, already prohibit the refusal of physical cash as a payment method in most circumstances with refusal punishable by a fine.181 Others, such as Ireland, have included the regulation of cash acceptance as part of its proposed payments strategy.182
Sweden
105. We heard that Sweden had explicitly planned to minimise physical cash and move to a more cashless society, but it had to reverse that decision due to unintended consequences, including the impact on civil resilience (See Chapter 4 for UK consideration) and groups of people left behind (see concerns already considered in this report about the UK).183
106. The Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, reported in 2024 that its objective of everyone in the country having access to basic payment services at reasonable prices was not being met. This was largely attributed to a reduction in the supply of manual payment services, including cash services. The administrative boards of Sweden’s counties reported that for 15 out of 21 counties, access to basic payments for individuals was unsatisfactory in general and that all county boards considered the situation to be unsatisfactory for older people and people with disabilities.184
107. The Riksbank concluded that everyone should be able to make payments at reasonable costs regardless of payment method. Its report emphasised that many of the problems arose because cash had been marginalised without sufficient digital alternatives, and that it was important that the state continued to support cash services.185 The Riksbank also drew attention to Swedish authorities’ crisis information, which advises the public to have access to multiple payment methods, including cash in smaller denominations.186 Consequently, among other corrective measures to support cash, the Riksbank gave its support to “urgently needed” legislation to “require merchants to accept cash” for essential goods and services.187
Australia
108. In December 2024, the Australian Government released a consultation paper that proposed mandating the acceptance of physical cash. The Australian Government’s intention was to maintain the current high rate (94%) of cash acceptance among businesses and ensure that those people who relied on physical cash were not left behind by a move to digital payments.188 The reasons for cash reliance were broadly similar to those outlined in this Report, including social inclusion, providing reliability during digital payment outages, for budgeting purposes and because of the trust and confidence people feel towards physical cash.189
109. The Australian proposals focused on mandating cash acceptance for corporations which supply an essential good or service to a consumer where in-person payment is offered, exempting small businesses (businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million Australian dollars).
Figure 12: Definitions of essential goods and services in proposed Australian cash acceptance regulations
|
Types of goods and services |
Types of businesses |
|
Food and non-alcoholic beverages |
Supermarkets |
|
Alcohol and tobacco |
N/A |
|
Clothing and footwear |
Department stores |
|
Housing |
Utilities |
|
Furnishings, household equipment and services |
Supermarkets Hardware stores |
|
Health |
Pharmacy General practices General dentistry |
|
Transport |
Petrol station Automotive repair |
|
Communication |
Postal services (excluding parcel services) Telecommunication equipment services |
|
Recreation and culture |
Pet stores Veterinary services |
|
Education |
Pre-school Primary and secondary education |
|
Insurance and financial services |
Unbundled Compulsory Third Party insurance |
Source: Australian Government, Consultation paper: Mandating cash acceptance, December 2024.
Conclusions and recommendations
110. Although the cash system is apparently stable at the macro level, cash usage has decreased significantly across the UK. In some spaces—notably, local government with its car parks and leisure centres—in order to avoid costs, cash is often no longer accepted, and some fear that that signals a gradual shift towards a cashless society. The Government must act to manage the decline in cash acceptance. (Conclusion)
111. The Government and the business community must prove that the current strategy of focusing on cash access alone works, and that it works for everyone. (Conclusion)
112. HM Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England must provide an interim assessment of the effectiveness of the access to cash regime as soon as is practical. This must include an assessment of whether the regime has affected the willingness of businesses to accept cash. (Recommendation)
113. We welcome the commitment by small businesses, including convenience stores, to accepting physical cash from those who need to pay for it. We note that for some types of businesses, including market traders, cash remains fundamental to the preservation of markets. (Conclusion)
114. We are disappointed that there is not more clarity on the costs of different payment types, and that businesses are continuing to bear the costs of a lack of competition in the payments processing market. (Conclusion)
115. HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority must ensure that the work of the Payment Systems Regulator on competition in payments markets is taken forwards during and after the consolidation of the Payment Systems Regulator into other regulators. (Recommendation)
116. HM Treasury must commit to ensuring that costs of accepting payments by payment method are transparent so that businesses of all sizes can make informed choices on payment methods. HM Treasury should commission work to produce a model of costs produced independently of payment providers. (Recommendation)
117. Digital payments systems are vulnerable to failure for reasons ranging from accidents or hostile actions by state actors, through to failure by a supplier in a retail bank’s digital supply chain. Physical cash has a vital role to play as a payment method that is independent, that is backed by the UK Government and that can be used as an analogue payment method when digital ones fail. (Conclusion)
118. In discharging its responsibility for national security and resilience, HM Treasury must consider the value of physical cash in emergency preparedness. This may include recommending that cash is held by individuals in case of emergency, and considering what role cash distribution might play in a severe payment systems outage. (Recommendation)
119. Cash is an enduring payment method that many people prefer to use and on which people who do not have equal access to non-cash payment methods rely. Although technology may progress further and reduce the number of people who rely on cash, demand for physical cash will always exist. The Government’s focus on reducing digital exclusion as part of the work of the Financial Inclusion Committee is welcome, but digital products and services may not fully solve the problem. Developing solutions to financial exclusion must include an examination of all potential options, especially where vulnerable groups face specific problems. For a significant minority of people, that risk entails not only inconvenience but partial exclusion from society. The cost will be borne by vulnerable minorities, including people in poverty, people struggling to escape domestic abusers and people with learning difficulties. (Conclusion)
120. HM Treasury must broaden the terms of reference of the Financial Inclusion Committee on “digital inclusion and access to banking services” explicitly to address the risk that a two-tier economy will lock the digitally excluded out of the economy. HM Treasury must commit to reviewing internally and externally produced evidence on cash access and cash acceptance in the UK and make a public judgment on whether the system is equitably meeting the needs of consumers and businesses every five years. As financial digitalisation continues, HM Treasury must work to ensure that innovation in this space is guided by a commitment to inclusivity, rather than increasing the number of individuals who are digitally and financially excluded. (Recommendation)
121. The Department for Business and Trade, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and HM Treasury must work together to challenge businesses and local government to set out how they are supporting financial inclusion, particularly for people who rely on cash due to their disabilities, in line with the Equalities Act 2010. (Recommendation)
122. There may come a time in the future where it becomes necessary for HM Treasury to mandate cash acceptance if appropriate safeguards have not been implemented for those who need physical cash, and the level of cash acceptance begins to lead to widespread detriment. To ensure that HM Treasury has the information it needs to make this decision, cash acceptance levels in the UK must be monitored to ensure we do not sleepwalk into a loss of cash acceptance for those who need it. HM Treasury must provide the Treasury Committee with annual reporting on cash acceptance levels and provide an analysis of HM Treasury’s view of the tolerable level of cash acceptance in society. (Recommendation)
123. We note that this debate is being conducted in other countries, and more interventionist approaches are being considered than is currently acceptable to the UK’s Government. We note with interest the range of approaches to cash in these similar countries, including the approach taken by the European Union and Australia which explicitly sets cash acceptance as inextricably linked to cash access. Other countries have focused on providing digital solutions to some of the issues posed by the decline in cash usage and acceptance, such as Singapore’s MyMoneySense platform and state-backed payment systems such as UPI in India and PIX in Brazil, which lower costs for merchants. (Conclusion)
124. In its interim assessment of the current cash access regulation (see Conclusions and recommendations for the UK), HM Treasury must include an assessment of how the problem of declining cash access is being tackled internationally. This must include an assessment of elements of, or all of, these approaches would work in the UK. (Recommendation)
Formal Minutes
Tuesday 22 April 2025
Members present
Dame Meg Hillier, in the Chair
Dame Harriett Baldwin
Rachel Blake
Chris Coghlan
Bobby Dean
John Glen
John Grady
Dame Siobhain McDonagh
Lola McEvoy
Acceptance of cash
Draft Report (Acceptance of cash), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read.
Ordered, That the Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1 to 124 read and agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report be the Sixth Report of the Committee to the House.
Ordered, That the Chair make the Report to the House.
Ordered, That embargoed copies of the Report be made available, in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order No. 134.
Adjournment
Adjourned till Wednesday 23 April at 2.00 pm.
Witnesses
The following witnesses gave evidence. Transcripts can be viewed on the inquiry publications page of the Committee’s website.
Wednesday 4 December 2024
Chris Brooks, Head of Policy, Age UK; Wayne Crocker, Director, Mencap Cymru; Deidre Cartwright, Public Affairs and Policy Manager, Surviving Economic Abuse; Conor D’Arcy, Deputy Chief Executive, Money and Mental Health Policy Institute; Ron Delnevo, Chair, Payment Choice Alliance Q1–62
Tuesday 17 December 2024
Ross Borkett, Banking Director, Post Office Limited; James Lowman, Chief Executive, Association of Convenience Stores; Carrie Aspin, Senior Researcher, Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW); Graham Wilson OBE, Deputy Chief Executive, National Association of British Market Authorities Q63–139
Tuesday 28 January 2025
Emma Reynolds MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, HM Treasury; Anna Harvey, Deputy Director of Payments and Fintech, HM Treasury Q140–200
Published written evidence
The following written evidence was received and can be viewed on the inquiry publications page of the Committee’s website.
AOC numbers are generated by the evidence processing system and so may not be complete.
1 Lui, Dr Alison (Reader in Corporate and Financial Law, Liverpool John Moores University); and Jones, Dr Paul (Reader in the Social Economy, Liverpool John Moores University) AOC0201
2 Age UK AOC0412
3 Anonymised AOC0455
4 Anonymised AOC0101
5 Anonymised AOC0010
6 Anonymised AOC0508
7 Anonymised AOC0509
8 Anonymised AOC0510
9 Anonymised AOC0511
10 Anonymised AOC0514
11 Anonymised AOC0515
12 Anonymised AOC0516
13 Anonymised AOC0517
14 Anonymised AOC0518
15 Anonymised AOC0520
16 Anonymised AOC0521
17 Anonymised AOC0522
18 Anonymised AOC0524
19 Anonymised AOC0526
20 Anonymised AOC0527
21 Anonymised AOC0529
22 Anonymised AOC0531
23 Anonymised AOC0476
24 Anonymised AOC0477
25 Anonymised AOC0479
26 Anonymised AOC0480
27 Anonymised AOC0482
28 Anonymised AOC0483
29 Anonymised AOC0484
30 Anonymised AOC0485
31 Anonymised AOC0486
32 Anonymised AOC0487
33 Anonymised AOC0488
34 Anonymised AOC0489
35 Anonymised AOC0491
36 Anonymised AOC0492
37 Anonymised AOC0493
38 Anonymised AOC0494
39 Anonymised AOC0495
40 Anonymised AOC0496
41 Anonymised AOC0499
42 Anonymised AOC0500
43 Anonymised AOC0501
44 Anonymised AOC0502
45 Anonymised AOC0503
46 Anonymised AOC0504
47 Anonymised AOC0505
48 Anonymised AOC0506
49 Anonymised AOC0507
50 Anonymised AOC0394
51 Anonymised AOC0395
52 Anonymised AOC0413
53 Anonymised AOC0414
54 Anonymised AOC0416
55 Anonymised AOC0417
56 Anonymised AOC0418
57 Anonymised AOC0419
58 Anonymised AOC0420
59 Anonymised AOC0421
60 Anonymised AOC0422
61 Anonymised AOC0423
62 Anonymised AOC0424
63 Anonymised AOC0425
64 Anonymised AOC0426
65 Anonymised AOC0461
66 Anonymised AOC0462
67 Anonymised AOC0464
68 Anonymised AOC0465
69 Anonymised AOC0467
70 Anonymised AOC0468
71 Anonymised AOC0469
72 Anonymised AOC0470
73 Anonymised AOC0471
74 Anonymised AOC0474
75 Anonymised AOC0345
76 Anonymised AOC0346
77 Anonymised AOC0347
78 Anonymised AOC0348
79 Anonymised AOC0349
80 Anonymised AOC0350
81 Anonymised AOC0351
82 Anonymised AOC0352
83 Anonymised AOC0353
84 Anonymised AOC0354
85 Anonymised AOC0355
86 Anonymised AOC0358
87 Anonymised AOC0429
88 Anonymised AOC0430
89 Anonymised AOC0446
90 Anonymised AOC0450
91 Anonymised AOC0451
92 Anonymised AOC0452
93 Anonymised AOC0454
94 Anonymised AOC0456
95 Anonymised AOC0457
96 Anonymised AOC0459
97 Anonymised AOC0359
98 Anonymised AOC0360
99 Anonymised AOC0380
100 Anonymised AOC0381
101 Anonymised AOC0382
102 Anonymised AOC0383
103 Anonymised AOC0384
104 Anonymised AOC0385
105 Anonymised AOC0386
106 Anonymised AOC0388
107 Anonymised AOC0389
108 Anonymised AOC0392
109 Anonymised AOC0393
110 Anonymised AOC0298
111 Anonymised AOC0299
112 Anonymised AOC0315
113 Anonymised AOC0316
114 Anonymised AOC0317
115 Anonymised AOC0318
116 Anonymised AOC0319
117 Anonymised AOC0322
118 Anonymised AOC0324
119 Anonymised AOC0325
120 Anonymised AOC0326
121 Anonymised AOC0327
122 Anonymised AOC0431
123 Anonymised AOC0432
124 Anonymised AOC0433
125 Anonymised AOC0434
126 Anonymised AOC0435
127 Anonymised AOC0436
128 Anonymised AOC0437
129 Anonymised AOC0438
130 Anonymised AOC0439
131 Anonymised AOC0440
132 Anonymised AOC0441
133 Anonymised AOC0442
134 Anonymised AOC0443
135 Anonymised AOC0444
136 Anonymised AOC0445
137 Anonymised AOC0396
138 Anonymised AOC0397
139 Anonymised AOC0398
140 Anonymised AOC0399
141 Anonymised AOC0400
142 Anonymised AOC0401
143 Anonymised AOC0402
144 Anonymised AOC0403
145 Anonymised AOC0404
146 Anonymised AOC0406
147 Anonymised AOC0407
148 Anonymised AOC0408
149 Anonymised AOC0410
150 Anonymised AOC0411
151 Anonymised AOC0361
152 Anonymised AOC0362
153 Anonymised AOC0363
154 Anonymised AOC0364
155 Anonymised AOC0365
156 Anonymised AOC0366
157 Anonymised AOC0367
158 Anonymised AOC0368
159 Anonymised AOC0371
160 Anonymised AOC0374
161 Anonymised AOC0375
162 Anonymised AOC0376
163 Anonymised AOC0377
164 Anonymised AOC0328
165 Anonymised AOC0329
166 Anonymised AOC0330
167 Anonymised AOC0331
168 Anonymised AOC0332
169 Anonymised AOC0334
170 Anonymised AOC0335
171 Anonymised AOC0336
172 Anonymised AOC0337
173 Anonymised AOC0338
174 Anonymised AOC0339
175 Anonymised AOC0341
176 Anonymised AOC0342
177 Anonymised AOC0343
178 Anonymised AOC0235
179 Anonymised AOC0236
180 Anonymised AOC0253
181 Anonymised AOC0254
182 Anonymised AOC0255
183 Anonymised AOC0256
184 Anonymised AOC0257
185 Anonymised AOC0258
186 Anonymised AOC0259
187 Anonymised AOC0260
188 Anonymised AOC0261
189 Anonymised AOC0264
190 Anonymised AOC0265
191 Anonymised AOC0266
192 Anonymised AOC0284
193 Anonymised AOC0285
194 Anonymised AOC0286
195 Anonymised AOC0287
196 Anonymised AOC0288
197 Anonymised AOC0289
198 Anonymised AOC0290
199 Anonymised AOC0291
200 Anonymised AOC0292
201 Anonymised AOC0294
202 Anonymised AOC0295
203 Anonymised AOC0296
204 Anonymised AOC0297
205 Anonymised AOC0186
206 Anonymised AOC0187
207 Anonymised AOC0189
208 Anonymised AOC0190
209 Anonymised AOC0191
210 Anonymised AOC0192
211 Anonymised AOC0193
212 Anonymised AOC0195
213 Anonymised AOC0196
214 Anonymised AOC0197
215 Anonymised AOC0198
216 Anonymised AOC0199
217 Anonymised AOC0300
218 Anonymised AOC0301
219 Anonymised AOC0302
220 Anonymised AOC0304
221 Anonymised AOC0305
222 Anonymised AOC0306
223 Anonymised AOC0307
224 Anonymised AOC0308
225 Anonymised AOC0309
226 Anonymised AOC0310
227 Anonymised AOC0311
228 Anonymised AOC0312
229 Anonymised AOC0313
230 Anonymised AOC0314
231 Anonymised AOC0267
232 Anonymised AOC0268
233 Anonymised AOC0270
234 Anonymised AOC0271
235 Anonymised AOC0272
236 Anonymised AOC0273
237 Anonymised AOC0274
238 Anonymised AOC0276
239 Anonymised AOC0277
240 Anonymised AOC0278
241 Anonymised AOC0279
242 Anonymised AOC0280
243 Anonymised AOC0282
244 Anonymised AOC0283
245 Anonymised AOC0200
246 Anonymised AOC0202
247 Anonymised AOC0221
248 Anonymised AOC0222
249 Anonymised AOC0223
250 Anonymised AOC0224
251 Anonymised AOC0225
252 Anonymised AOC0226
253 Anonymised AOC0227
254 Anonymised AOC0228
255 Anonymised AOC0229
256 Anonymised AOC0230
257 Anonymised AOC0232
258 Anonymised AOC0233
259 Anonymised AOC0234
260 Anonymised AOC0136
261 Anonymised AOC0137
262 Anonymised AOC0138
263 Anonymised AOC0139
264 Anonymised AOC0140
265 Anonymised AOC0141
266 Anonymised AOC0142
267 Anonymised AOC0143
268 Anonymised AOC0144
269 Anonymised AOC0145
270 Anonymised AOC0146
271 Anonymised AOC0147
272 Anonymised AOC0148
273 Anonymised AOC0237
274 Anonymised AOC0238
275 Anonymised AOC0239
276 Anonymised AOC0240
277 Anonymised AOC0241
278 Anonymised AOC0242
279 Anonymised AOC0243
280 Anonymised AOC0244
281 Anonymised AOC0245
282 Anonymised AOC0246
283 Anonymised AOC0248
284 Anonymised AOC0249
285 Anonymised AOC0250
286 Anonymised AOC0251
287 Anonymised AOC0252
288 Anonymised AOC0203
289 Anonymised AOC0205
290 Anonymised AOC0206
291 Anonymised AOC0207
292 Anonymised AOC0210
293 Anonymised AOC0211
294 Anonymised AOC0212
295 Anonymised AOC0213
296 Anonymised AOC0214
297 Anonymised AOC0215
298 Anonymised AOC0216
299 Anonymised AOC0217
300 Anonymised AOC0218
301 Anonymised AOC0219
302 Anonymised AOC0220
303 Anonymised AOC0149
304 Anonymised AOC0150
305 Anonymised AOC0169
306 Anonymised AOC0170
307 Anonymised AOC0171
308 Anonymised AOC0172
309 Anonymised AOC0173
310 Anonymised AOC0174
311 Anonymised AOC0175
312 Anonymised AOC0178
313 Anonymised AOC0179
314 Anonymised AOC0180
315 Anonymised AOC0181
316 Anonymised AOC0182
317 Anonymised AOC0104
318 Anonymised AOC0105
319 Anonymised AOC0106
320 Anonymised AOC0107
321 Anonymised AOC0108
322 Anonymised AOC0110
323 Anonymised AOC0111
324 Anonymised AOC0112
325 Anonymised AOC0113
326 Anonymised AOC0115
327 Anonymised AOC0118
328 Anonymised AOC0119
329 Anonymised AOC0151
330 Anonymised AOC0152
331 Anonymised AOC0153
332 Anonymised AOC0154
333 Anonymised AOC0155
334 Anonymised AOC0156
335 Anonymised AOC0157
336 Anonymised AOC0158
337 Anonymised AOC0159
338 Anonymised AOC0161
339 Anonymised AOC0164
340 Anonymised AOC0165
341 Anonymised AOC0166
342 Anonymised AOC0167
343 Anonymised AOC0168
344 Anonymised AOC0120
345 Anonymised AOC0121
346 Anonymised AOC0122
347 Anonymised AOC0124
348 Anonymised AOC0125
349 Anonymised AOC0126
350 Anonymised AOC0127
351 Anonymised AOC0128
352 Anonymised AOC0129
353 Anonymised AOC0130
354 Anonymised AOC0131
355 Anonymised AOC0132
356 Anonymised AOC0134
357 Anonymised AOC0135
358 Anonymised AOC0088
359 Anonymised AOC0089
360 Anonymised AOC0090
361 Anonymised AOC0092
362 Anonymised AOC0093
363 Anonymised AOC0094
364 Anonymised AOC0095
365 Anonymised AOC0096
366 Anonymised AOC0098
367 Anonymised AOC0099
368 Anonymised AOC0100
369 Anonymised AOC0102
370 Anonymised AOC0103
371 Anonymised AOC0049
372 Anonymised AOC0051
373 Anonymised AOC0052
374 Anonymised AOC0053
375 Anonymised AOC0055
376 Anonymised AOC0056
377 Anonymised AOC0057
378 Anonymised AOC0058
379 Anonymised AOC0059
380 Anonymised AOC0060
381 Anonymised AOC0063
382 Anonymised AOC0064
383 Anonymised AOC0065
384 Anonymised AOC0066
385 Anonymised AOC0069
386 Anonymised AOC0073
387 Anonymised AOC0074
388 Anonymised AOC0075
389 Anonymised AOC0076
390 Anonymised AOC0077
391 Anonymised AOC0078
392 Anonymised AOC0079
393 Anonymised AOC0083
394 Anonymised AOC0085
395 Anonymised AOC0086
396 Anonymised AOC0087
397 Anonymised AOC0018
398 Anonymised AOC0019
399 Anonymised AOC0020
400 Anonymised AOC0021
401 Anonymised AOC0022
402 Anonymised AOC0023
403 Anonymised AOC0024
404 Anonymised AOC0025
405 Anonymised AOC0026
406 Anonymised AOC0028
407 Anonymised AOC0029
408 Anonymised AOC0030
409 Anonymised AOC0031
410 Anonymised AOC0032
411 Anonymised AOC0033
412 Anonymised AOC0035
413 Anonymised AOC0036
414 Anonymised AOC0037
415 Anonymised AOC0038
416 Anonymised AOC0039
417 Anonymised AOC0040
418 Anonymised AOC0041
419 Anonymised AOC0042
420 Anonymised AOC0043
421 Anonymised AOC0044
422 Anonymised AOC0045
423 Anonymised AOC0046
424 Anonymised AOC0047
425 Anonymised AOC0048
426 Anonymised AOC0001
427 Anonymised AOC0002
428 Anonymised AOC0003
429 Anonymised AOC0004
430 Anonymised AOC0005
431 Anonymised AOC0006
432 Anonymised AOC0007
433 Anonymised AOC0011
434 Anonymised AOC0013
435 Anonymised AOC0015
436 Anonymised AOC0016
437 Anonymised AOC0017
438 Anonymised AOC0409
439 Anonymised AOC0269
440 Anonymised AOC0183
441 Attwoods Chartered Accountants AOC0453
442 Boudica Cybersecurity AOC0009
443 British Independent Retail Association (BIRA) AOC0498
444 Campaign for Cash AOC0391
445 Canterbury Players Amateur Dramatics Society AOC0530
446 Care & Repair Cymru AOC0123
447 Caroline, The Rt Hon AOC0538
448 Cash Access UK AOC0447
449 ChangeGroup & Prosegur Change AOC0109
450 Changing Realities AOC0458
451 Chardstock Community Shop Limited AOC0370
452 Chichester Christian Spiritualist Church AOC0082
453 Coinstar AOC0071
454 Community Cash Advisory Panel AOC0378
455 Community Money Advice AOC0303
456 Consumer Scotland AOC0176
457 Covent Garden Tenants Association Ltd AOC0387
458 Cumbria Wildflowers Ltd AOC0344
459 Duxbury, Professor Darren (Professor of Finance, Newcastle University) AOC0372
460 ENSA Services AOC0281
461 ESTA - The European Cash Management Companies’ Association AOC0188
462 Fair4All Finance AOC0091
463 Federation of Small Businesses AOC0497
464 G4S Cash Solutions Ltd AOC0390
465 GMB AOC0532
466 Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church AOC0012
467 Knutsford Bake Club AOC0523
468 LINK ATM Scheme AOC0177
469 Later Life Ambitions AOC0449
470 MP, Ben Lake AOC0537
471 MP, Jayne Kirkham AOC0535
472 MP, Julia Lopez AOC0534
473 MP, Wera Hobhouse AOC0536
474 MS, Carolyn Thomas (Chair, Senedd Petitions Committee) AOC0117
475 Man Academy AOC0067
476 Mastercard AOC0448
477 Mencap AOC0204
478 Onabajo, Mr. Babatunde (Director, ChurchMapped Limited) AOC0262
479 Payment Choice Alliance AOC0114
480 Positive Money AOC0472
481 Post Office Ltd AOC0321
482 Sound Leisure Limited AOC0194
483 Surviving Economic Abuse AOC0473
484 The Consumer Council AOC0533
485 The, Anonymous submitted by AOC0539
486 UK Finance AOC0323
487 Ulverston Lantern Festival Supporters Group AOC0357
488 Union of shop distributive and allied workers AOC0427
489 the Association of Convenience Stores AOC0340
Published engagement documents
The following written evidence was received and can be viewed on the inquiry publications page of the Committee’s website.
List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament
All publications from the Committee are available on the publications page of the Committee’s website.
Session 2024–25
|
Number |
Title |
Reference |
|
5th |
Appointment of Ric Lewis as Chair of the Crown Estate |
HC 683 |
|
4th |
Appointment of Niamh Moloney to the Prudential Regulation Committee |
HC 783 |
|
3rd |
Appointment of David Soanes to the Prudential Regulation Committee |
HC 776 |
|
2nd |
Appointment of Andrea Enria to the Prudential Regulation Committee |
HC 775 |
|
1st |
The Office for Value for Money |
HC 521 |
|
1st |
SME Finance: Government Response |
HC 517 |
Footnotes
1 UK Government and Parliament Petitions, Petition - Require all businesses and public services to accept cash payments, petition.parliament.uk (accessed 3 April 2025).
2 Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022–23, Commons Briefing Paper 9594, House of Commons Library, 30 November 2022, p11.
3 Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, Part 2.
4 Financial Conduct Authority, ‘CP3/29: Access to cash’ (December 2023), p10.
5 Financial Conduct Authority, PS24/8: Access to cash (July 2024), p4.
6 HM Treasury, Access to cash designation, gov.uk (accessed 3 April 2025).
7 Cash Access UK, What we do, cashaccess.co.uk (accessed 7 April 2025).
8 A banking hub is a facility operated by the Post Office and owned by Cash Access UK. Hubs provide cash access, deposit services and some basic banking services to customers of participating banks. Different participating banks rotate staff through banking hubs on different days to help with banking enquiries The Post Office website lists the participating banks as: Bank of Ireland; Barclays; Bank of Scotland; Danske Bank; Halifax; HSBC; Lloyds Bank; NatWest; Royal Bank of Scotland; Santander; TSB; Ulster Bank; and Virgin Money.
9 Post Office Limited, ‘Banking Hubs’, postoffice.co.uk (accessed 3 April 2025).
10 Financial Conduct Authority, PS24/8: Access to cash (July 2024), p7.
11 The wholesale cash distribution system, which is regulated by the Bank, concerns the production of banknotes, the distribution of currency through the Note Circulation Scheme and the supply of this currency to ATMs, banks and Post Offices.
12 Bank of England, Codes of practice relating to wholesale cash distribution, p7 (April 2024).
13 Bank of England, Codes of practice relating to wholesale cash distribution, p8 (April 2024).
14 Bank of England, Codes of practice relating to wholesale cash distribution, pp8–14 (April 2024).
15 Bank of England, Codes of practice relating to wholesale cash distribution, pp17–19 (April 2024).
16 The Association of Convenience Stores (AOC0340).
21 British Retail Consortium, Payments Survey 2024, p7 (December 2024).
23 G4S Cash Solutions Ltd (AOC0390).
24 G4S Cash Solutions Ltd (AOC0390).
25 G4S Cash Solutions Ltd (AOC0390).
26 Consumer Scotland (AOC0176).
27 Consumer Scotland (AOC0176).
30 Campaign for Cash (AOC0391).
36 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience on relying on cash, p.3 (March 2025).
38 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience on relying on cash, p.4 (March 2025).
40 Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA): Cash acceptance within SMEs - Savanta, fca.org.uk, p4 (2021).
41 Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA): Cash acceptance within SMEs - Savanta, fca.org.uk, p3 (2021).
42 Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA): Cash acceptance within SMEs - Savanta, fca.org.uk, p4 (2021).
50 Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Lives 2022 survey: Retail banking, savings and payments selected findings, p.47 (26 July 2023).
51 Changing Realities (AOC0458).
52 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience of relying on cash, p3 (March 2025).
53 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience of relying on cash, p3 (March 2025).
54 University of Bristol Personal Financial Research Centre, The Poverty Premium: Key findings, p.1 (November 2016).
55 Payment Choice Alliance (AOC0114).
56 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience on relying on cash, p4 (March 2025).
62 Changing Realities (AOC0458).
72 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience on relying on cash, p3 (March 2025).
73 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience on relying on cash,, pp1–3 (March 2025).
76 Economic abuse is a type of domestic abuse, as set out in the Domestic Violence Act 2021. The 2021 Act defines economic abuse as “any behaviour” by a domestic abuser that has a “substantial adverse effect” on their victim’s ability to “acquire, use or maintain money or other property” or “obtain goods or services.”
78 Surviving Economic Abuse (AOC0473).
79 Surviving Economic Abuse (AOC0473).
80 Southall Black Sister, Who we are, southallblacksisters.org.uk (accessed 4 April 2025).
81 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with survivors / victims of economic abuse (March 2025).
82 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with survivors / victims of economic abuse, p1 (March 2025).
83 ParentPay, Cashless School Payments, parentpay.com (accessed 4 April 2025).
84 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with survivors / victims of economic abuse, p2 (March 2025).
85 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with survivors / victims of economic abuse, p3 (March 2025).
86 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with survivors / victims of economic abuse, p3 (March 2025).
87 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with survivors / victims of economic abuse, p2 (March 2025).
93 Later Life Ambitions (AOC0449).
94 Later Life Ambitions (AOC0449).
95 Later Life Ambitions (AOC0449).
96 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience on relying on cash, p2 (March 2025).
97 Treasury Committee, Note of private informal meeting with people who have lived experience on relying on cash, p2 (March 2025).
100 Anonymous (AOC0011), Anonymous (AOC0236), Anonymous (AOC0302), Anonymous (AOC0324), Anonymous (AOC0476), Anonymous (AOC0526).
102 Equality Act 2010, ss19-19A
103 Equality Act 2010, ss4-12.
104 Equality Act 2010, s20.
107 Letter from the Economic Secretary to the Treasury to the Chair further to the Treasury Committee session on cash acceptance on 28 January, 24 February 2025.
108 HM Treasury, Financial Inclusion Committee: terms of reference, gov.uk (31 January 2025, accessed 4 April 2025).
110 HM Treasury, National Payments Vision, p34 (November 2024).
112 Payment Choice Alliance (AOC0114).
113 A payee is the recipient of a payment in a transaction.
114 LINK ATM Scheme (AOC0177).
117 Dr Alison Lui (Reader in Corporate and Financial Law at Liverpool John Moores University); Dr Paul Jones (Reader in the Social Economy at Liverpool John Moores University) (AOC0201).
118 Professor Darren Duxbury (Professor of Finance at Newcastle University) (AOC0372), para 8–14.
119 Professor Darren Duxbury (Professor of Finance at Newcastle University) (AOC0372).
120 Professor Darren Duxbury (Professor of Finance at Newcastle University) (AOC0372).
121 Professor Darren Duxbury (Professor of Finance at Newcastle University) (AOC0372).
122 Anonymous (AOC0125), Anonymous (AOC0141), Anonymous (AOC0156), Anonymous (AOC0377), Anonymous (AOC0381), Anonymous (AOC0431), Anonymous (AOC0441), Anonymous (AOC0443).
125 G4S Cash Solutions Ltd (AOC0390).
127 British Retail Consortium, Payments Survey 2024, pp.12–13 (December 2024).
128 British Retail Consortium, Payments Survey 2024, p14 (December 2024).
129 British Retail Consortium, Payments Survey 2024, p.14 (December 2024).
130 Payment Systems Regulator, PSR finds market isn’t working well for card scheme and processing services, psr.org.uk (accessed 3 April 2025).
131 Payment Systems Regulator, MR22/1.10 Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report, p4 (March 2025).
132 Payment Systems Regulator, MR22/1.10 Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report, p.10 (March 2025).
133 Payment Systems Regulator, MR22/1.10 Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report pp5–6 (March 2025).
134 Payment Systems Regulator, MR22/1.10 Market review of card scheme and processing fees: final report, p7 (March 2025).
135 Payment Systems Regulator, CP25/1 Market review of card scheme and processing fees remedies consultation (March 2025).
136 Prime Minister’s Office, Regulator axed as red tape is slashed to boost growth - GOV.UK (11 March 2025, accessed 3 April 2025).
137 Oral evidence taken on 12 March 2025, Q33.
138 ESTA - The European Cash Management Companies’ Association (AOC0188).
141 Federation of Small Businesses (AOC0497).
142 Post Office Ltd (AOC0321).
143 Post Office Ltd (AOC0321).
148 British Independent Retail Association (BIRA) (AOC0498).
153 Chardstock Community Shop Limited (AOC0370).
155 British Retail Consortium, Cards may be king, but cash remains crucial, brc.org.uk (5 December 2024, accessed 3 April 2025).
157 HM Government, National Risk Register - 2025 edition, p6 (January 2025).
158 HM Government, National Risk Register - 2025 edition, pp102–105 (January 2025).
159 HM Government, National Risk Register - 2025 edition, p.102 and p104 (January 2025).
160 HM Government, National Risk Register - 2025 edition, p14 (January 2025).
161 HM Government, National Risk Register - 2025 edition,p.102 and p104 (January 2025).
162 HM Government, National Risk Register - 2025 edition, pp58–59 (January 2025).
163 HM Government, National Risk Register - 2025 edition, pp58–59 (January 2025).
164 HM Government, National Risk Register - 2025 edition, pp58–59, p102 and p104 (January 2025).
165 Bank of England, Co-ordinating the response to disruption of financial services, bankofengland.co.uk (accessed 4 April 2025).
166 Treasury Committee, Bank outages: Committee demands answers from banks and building societies following Barclays IT failure, committees.parliament.uk (10 February 2025, accessed 4 April 2025).
167 Treasury Committee, More than one month’s worth of IT failures at major banks and building societies in the last two years, committees.parliament.uk (6 March 2025, accessed 4 April 2025).
168 Treasury Committee, More than one month’s worth of IT failures at major banks and building societies in the last two years, committees.parliament.uk (6 March 2025, accessed 4 April 2025).
171 Positive Money (AOC0472), paragraph 3.5.
172 Union of shop distributive and allied workers (AOC0427).
174 Anonymous (AOC0190); Anonymous (AOC0195); Anonymous (AOC0200); Anonymous (AOC0202); Anonymous (AOC0265); Anonymous (AOC0273); Anonymous (AOC0287); Anonymous (AOC0315); Anonymous (AOC0341); Anonymous (AOC0353); Anonymous (AOC0367); Anonymous (AOC0375); Anonymous (AOC0393); Anonymous (AOC0416); Anonymous (AOC0454).
175 Payment Choice Alliance (AOC0114).
176 European Central Bank, The Eurosystem cash strategy, ecb.europa.eu (accessed 3 April 2025).
177 European Commission, Clarifying the legal tender status of euro banknotes and coins, ec.europa.eu (accessed 3 April 2025)
178 EC COM(2023)364, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal tender of euro bank notes and coins, p12 (June 2023).
179 EC COM(2023)364, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the legal tender of euro bank notes and coins, p12 (June 2023).
180 European Union, EU Law Tracker, Proposal for a regulation on the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins, Europa.eu (accessed 3 April 2025).
181 French Republic, Cash payment, service-public.fr (accessed 3 April 2025).
182 Republic of Ireland Department of Finance, National Payments Strategy Public Consultation: 6. Acceptance of cash (December 2023, accessed 3 April 2025)
184 Sveriges Riksbank, Payments Report 2024: Access to basic payment services is unsatisfactory, riksbank.se (14 March 2024, accessed 3 April 2025).
185 Sveriges Riksbank, Payments Report 2024: More measures are needed to ensure everyone can pay, riksbank.se (14 March 2024, accessed 3 April 2025).
186 Sveriges Riksbank, Payments Report 2024: The payment system can be even more resilient to disruptions, riksbank.se (14 March 2024, accessed 3 April 2025).
187 Sveriges Riksbank, Payments Report 2024: Further measures are required to preserve cash, riksbank.se (14 March 2024, accessed 3 April 2025).
188 Australian Treasury, Consultation paper: Mandating cash acceptance, p5 (December 2024).
189 Australian Treasury, Consultation paper: Mandating cash acceptance, p11 (December 2024).