MILLIONS of hard-up households have been snubbed from the high street as one in seven shops axe cash payments.
A new report found that some 14% of small and medium-sized retailers have gone cashless over the previous 12 months.
However, it was noted that 77% of these types of business still accept cash.
The survey of more than 1,100 SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) across the UK was carried out for a “keeping choice alive” report, published by ATM and cash access network Link.
The survey indicated that 46% of in-person transactions were still cash-based.
The biggest driver to becoming a “cashless” business in the survey was fraud prevention, followed by security concerns and a lack of customer demand.
Around a fifth (19%) of businesses also felt digital payments made bookkeeping and accounting easier to manage.
A lack of deposit facilities and the closure of the local bank branch were also highlighted among businesses’ considerations.
Some businesses also highlighted the cost of handling cash as a concern.
But among businesses that accept cash, nearly half (46%) said they actively encourage its use, according to the survey, carried out by Focaldata.
It comes as a growing number of high street chains no longer accept cash following the rise in popularity of contactless payments.
For example, Italian chain Zizzi’s has gone fully cash-free in the majority of its sites and Gail’s bakery will typically only accept card payments.
Just last year, the government gave the green light for businesses to move away from cash payments, with businesses no longer forced to mandate cash payments.
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, a representative body for older people in the UK, branded the report as “shocking” and said going cashless could impact the elderly and hard-up households.
He said: “Taken together with unrestrained bank branch closures, millions of older people and low-income families are finding that the High Street no longer welcomes them as customers.”
“Millions still rely on cash to eke out their weekly budgets and pay their bills and the Government sits on its hands as a two tier society, based on digital exclusion, develops before its eyes.”
However, Nick Quin, chief corporate affairs officer at Link, said that the group is “making sure that people can access their cash, and businesses can deposit their cash, in every corner of the UK”.
