Why we need to keep cash alive

“We must avoid sleepwalking into a situation where cash is no longer widely accepted”.

That’s what Meg Hillier MP warned the government when the Treasury Select Committee released their report into cash acceptance in the UK. We were pleased to see Positive Money mentioned several times but we were even more pleased with its recommendation: “The Government must act to manage the decline in cash acceptance”. 

It’s easy to forget that our money and payments system isn’t just a technical arrangement, it’s a vital public utility - like water and electricity - that we rely on every day. As recent power cuts in Spain and Portugal highlighted, we’re all at risk if we move to a cashless society, as we shared in an interview with TalkTV. 

Millions of us still use cash, in fact it’s becoming more popular; the number of cash withdrawals in the UK rose for the third year in a row in 2024 – and we should all have the right to. But more and more places are going card-only, leaving people locked out and robbing them of the right to choose how they pay. 

Cash is a lifeline, especially for the most marginalised: older people, refugees, the homeless, those escaping abuse, and increasingly - young people. Those aged between 18 and 24 are the most likely to be unbanked, a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) survey found, due to their increasingly fragile finances, denied access to services due to the insecurity of their work and income, and a lack of credit history to draw upon.

Cash has other benefits too. It ensures privacy, it’s convenient, it’s immune from technical faults and cyber attacks and, maybe most importantly, it’s our last publicly-issued form of money. Because we haven’t ended up here by accident. 

Our move to a cashless society has been pushed on us by big banks and card companies, like Mastercard and Visa, because it’s in their interest for us to use their digital services, which they then get away with charging small businesses a fortune to use. But we shouldn’t let our money and payments system become totally privatised and run for profit.  

There are some positive signs around cash acceptance. The ride-hailing app Uber announced recently it will allow passengers across most of the UK to pay in cash, but we can’t rely on individual businesses to make these decisions by themselves. We need the government to mandate cash acceptance right across the country so no matter what shop, supermarket, or pub you want to pay in, they have to accept the cash you give them. 

After winning crucial protections on free access to cash back in 2023, now it’s time for the government to take the next step and protect our ability to use it, because access and acceptance are two sides of the same coin.

It shouldn’t take a power meltdown to make us realise the benefits of physical cash - and how quickly our economy could grind to a halt without it.

Add your name to the petition to #KeepCashAlive today.