This is Money is part of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday & Metro media group, Get a discount code to save on your internet security, Listen to podcasts and books for less with these offers, Get the ultimate broadband and entertainment bundle, Get great deals on existing and new plans, Have a clean house and save money with these offers, The most vulnerable time of the year: Britons bombarded as fraudsters impersonate DPD and Royal Mail to grab personal and card details. The issue is not just that cash is difficult to get, but that even if you have it, it can be difficult to spend. While there isn't sufficient evidence to show that cash is riskier than card, it's prompted many Australians to argue that because cash is legal tender businesses must accept it under law. But for many, this is not an answer - cash is vital. "You are allowed to take card only as long as it's not discriminatory for race or disability or something.". "I know many people are saying 'why don't we just switch to a cashless society?' So basic economics tells us that either retailers and banks need to pay a lot more for using cash, or providers of the infrastructure need to radically cut their costs. Can a business refuse to take cash for a transactiion? A business can refuse cash (paper currency) payment pretty much in all cases provided it's a reasonable policy and/or notified during/in advance of contracting. They have to take my cash! Which was pretty surprising considering there was 60+ people on the bus. Unfortunately, these are often in rural areas where there is no bank branch, leaving communities with no other means of accessing cash. As to whether it's time to switch to a cashless society, Martin had made an excellent point. Would you shrug your shoulders and use a card, or be irritated that someone else had decided how you should pay? They can refuse any payment method or require any method. "No, they are not breaking any rules," he said. In 2017, this volume has more than halved to just one in three of all payments, and it's forecast to halve again in ten years to just one in six. I tend to look at this way….“money” these days can take lots of different forms. Martin Lewis has said that shops are within their rights to only allow card payments during the Covid-19 pandemic- and are not breaking the law by refusing to accept cash. This new £60,000 BMW iX3 electric SUV has a soundtrack... Would a 'wealth tax' work in Britain and could it help pay off the Covid-19 debt. British marque completes reborn 1920s racer, Lord Blunkett 'never envisaged' disabled Child Trust Fund issues, Electric cars could reap benefits from new green number plates, 'UK shares can do well when the world reopens': Tom Becket, Kar-go Delivery Bot: UK's first autonomous electric delivery vehicle. A number of stores are refusing to take cash and are only accepting card payment. We do not write articles to promote products. This is an infrastructure largely run by commercial companies and it's funded largely through fees per cash transaction paid by retailers and banks (not directly by consumer) – i.e. Yes, they can. DVLA warns of a 603% surge in fraudulent emails and texts - here's how to spot dodgy alerts. Many alternatives to cash … Our energy supplier went under days after I switched for a better deal - but I was £100 in credit: Will I automatically get money back? First, how robust is the digital system when we have seen multiple IT failures in recent months alone that restrict access to online banking and card payments? This might be something you've already experienced. Last month, This is Money assistant editor Lee Boyce revealed why he believes we would regret it if Britain turned into a cashless society. It can be cash, or credit, or debit (as in, funds in a bank), check (again, funds in a bank)...so many things. However, we simply can't take our cash infrastructure for granted. The entire UK cash infrastructure costs around £5billion each year. It is the poster child of a 'cashless society', with only 15 per cent of Sweden's payments currently made using cash. This can’t be legal. 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I can understand a business not wanting to make change for a $100 dollar bill on a $5 dollar footlong, but can they legally refuse? every time we withdraw money from an ATM, or each time a business deposits cash at its bank – the provider of the infrastructure gets paid. 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A business would refuse it. If you're someone who can't or won't use digital payment – for many reasons – you can be left excluded from many parts of society. There is no single point of regulatory oversight that controls the way this infrastructure is managed. For some, cash is still the most convenient method of payment. They don't take cash. Halifax will pay off the mortgage of 10 customers next month in a prize draw: What do you need to do to take part? In some parts of the cash infrastructure, there are only one or two companies playing a critical role. "In Scotland, no notes - neither Bank of Scotland nor Bank of England, are legal tender.". Ultimately, it’s up to the business to decide whether or not they want to accept cash payments (unless there is a state or local law that says otherwise). But on Monday, San Francisco Police Department Chief Bill Scott said that businesses that refuse to accept cash are breaking the law. "It means if you have a court awarded debt against you, if someone tries to settle and they're paying in legal tender you cannot refuse it. When only a small fraction of customers pays in cash, it's worth risking losing them to save on the costs of handling cash. Without this happening, a cashless future, and its negative consequences, could happen sooner than we think. The entire UK cash infrastructure costs around £5billion each year. In the last few weeks, since writing a column about Britain going cashless, I spotted the annual 'cash is filthy and full of germs' story that gets picked up by the press. This change needs to be managed properly, not just by encouraging innovation which enables more people to participate in the digital economy, but also by planning for a viable cash infrastructure which means people aren't left behind. The distribution networks are run by commercial organisations who will make decisions based on their own commercial interests. When shops refuse to take cash from these people, they leave them vulnerable to bad actors, Tullett adds. In fifteen years, changes to the payments landscape mean that we will pay for things tomorrow in very different ways than we do today. The short answer: yes. There isn't yet an easy alternative for the elderly person living alone who has a neighbour help with occasional shopping – giving over a £20 note limits their risk to £20, whereas handing over a card risks losing all of their savings. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. This should raise many questions for regulators and policymakers in the UK. Any business can decide the tender they accept. — not that I ever use cash (no I’m not rich…credit cards help manage money). Pros and cons of refusing cash Experts fear there may be … Some links in this article may be affiliate links. Twenty years ago, when around three out of four of all payments were made using notes and coins, the high cost of storing and moving cash around made sense. As mentioned, there is no federal law that mandates private businesses to accept cash as a form of payment. Sign up to our FREE newsletter below. Just as many retailers refuse to accept cheques or £50 notes, there is nothing to stop them from not taking cash at all. We now use contactless cards to pay for one in seven of all transactions and even the Church of England now accept donations by contactless in many churches. There are around 2.2million people who are almost entirely dependent on cash to live their lives. To be excluded from certain activities? Sweden's central bank forecasts the country could be cashless within a decade; others suggest it may be much sooner. I opened a BA Amex to earn a free flight voucher: I've now cancelled the £195 credit card - have I lost the reward too? 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