Cash makes a comeback for millions on a budget

CASH is making a comeback as millions of Britons turn to notes and coins to help them budget through the cost-of-living crisis.

- BY AARON NEWBURY

Up to 1.5 million people now rely on physical currency as their main method of paying for goods.

Neil Martin, UK managing director of NCR Atleos, Britain’s biggest ATM network, said that cash remains “a really important part of the fabric of the UK”.

His company operates 16,000 cash machines across the country, dispensing around £29billion of the £76.7bn withdrawn last year.

Mr Martin revealed a startling shift in attitudes followed Rachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget.

He said: “We asked a question after the Budget — do our customers think they'll use more cash as a result of the Budget? 520,000 people responded to onscreen questions, and 41% of them expected to use more cash in 2026.”

The startling figures paint a picture of a nation increasingly squeezed by rising costs, with cash emerging as a vital budgeting tool for families struggling to make ends meet.