Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to track levels of cash acceptance among retailers.
The Government recognises that the ability to transact in cash remains important to millions of people across the UK and has committed to legislating to protect access to cash.
The Government does not collect information on the levels of cash acceptance among retailers. Nonetheless, it remains closely engaged with the financial regulators, including through the Treasury-chaired Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group, to monitor and assess trends relating to cash.
The FCA has published research on cash acceptance by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which found that the primary motivation for accepting cash is to provide customers with choice. While it remains the individual retailer’s choice as to whether to accept or decline any form of payment, including cash or card, nearly all (98%) of surveyed businesses stated they would never turn away a customer if they needed to pay by cash.