It's not just cash being abandoned, it's people too

THE OLD saying “cash is king” is taking a battering these days. There are a growing number of businesses who do not want to deal in cash, with signs located near the tills or on the counter proudly proclaiming: “Card payments only, please.” This is not only poor customer service, but also denies patrons the choice of how to pay.

- Duncan Barkes

Given the challenges facing the high street and small businesses, you would have thought they would be grateful for payment in any form - never mind not forking out the fees they must pay to card companies.

Businesses that refuse to accept cash not only run the risk of losing custom, but they are swimming against the tide of public opinion. Research commissioned by Link, the cash machine network, reveals that 76% of people think it is vital to have the option to use cash. On top of this, 82% of those surveyed said all shops should accept it.

Several years ago, the Mayor of London decreed that all black cabs in the capital had to offer passengers the option of paying by card as well as cash. Shops and businesses should have to do the same in reverse and accept cash from customers who want to pay this way.

It comes as no great surprise that 52% of those in the survey said they had been somewhere in the last eight weeks that had not accepted bank notes or coins, or had discouraged the use of them.