Cash versus cards in spending battle

By Éilis Cronin in Industry News 23rd August 2021

The decline in the use of cash in stores in the last year has been partly because of the pandemic rather than customer choice, claims research from a cash handling equipment supplier.

Volumatic, which supplies cash counting machines and safes, says its research shows that 26% of consumers have had cash payments refused in the last year.

The company says its study indicates that “consumer demand for cash acceptance remains high” and that the decline in use was partly down to “misinformation spread during the pandemic”.

The company argues that it is vital for retailers to maintain customer choice in their method of payment.

The Volumatic research follows last week’s report by Vouchercodes.co.uk that contactless payments are set to become Britain’s most popular spending method by the end of next year.

Further recent research came from Paypoint, which early in August said that UK-wide more than 50% of transactions in convenience stores are still made in cash despite the increase in card payments during the pandemic.

James Harris, managing director of Volumatic, said: “As thought leaders in the cash handling community, we felt we had a duty to help our customers make sense of and deal with the extraordinary circumstances around COVID-19.”